COMMITTEE OKS ANIMAL MANAGER ACTIVISTS PROTEST MAYOR'S APPOINTMENT.Byline: James Nash Staff Writer Over the objections of animal activists, a City Council committee on Monday approved the appointment of a Maryland city official to head Los Angeles' troubled Department of Animal Services. The unanimous vote of the council's Public Safety Committee clears the way for the full council next week to approve Mayor James Hahn's appointment of Guerdon guer·don n. A reward; recompense. tr.v. guer·doned, guer·don·ing, guer·dons To reward. [Middle English, from Old French, from Medieval Latin Stuckey as general manager of Animal Services, which oversees six animal shelters "Dog Pound" redirects here. For the rap group, see Tha Dogg Pound. An animal shelter is a facility that houses homeless, lost or abandoned animals; primarily a large variety of dogs and cats. and the enforcement of animal-related laws. Stuckey, the director of neighborhood and community services for the city of Rockville, Md., has come under vociferous criticism from animal activists in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. for his lack of experience in animal services and for his alleged ambivalence ambivalence (ămbĭv`ələns), coexistence of two opposing drives, desires, feelings, or emotions toward the same person, object, or goal. The ambivalent person may be unaware of either of the opposing wishes. to implementing a ``no-kill'' policy in animal shelters. Stuckey defended himself against the criticism. ``I am happy to be a candidate for this position, knowing full well the challenges that are involved,'' he said at the conclusion of nearly an hour of mostly critical comments. ``I appreciate the passions that were spoken this morning. I will listen to all parties.'' Before Stuckey spoke, more than a dozen animal activists criticized his nomination, saying he lacked the experience to run a department under fire for euthanizing about 50,000 cats and dogs Cats and Dogs A slang term referring to speculative stocks that have short or suspicious histories for sales, earnings, dividends, etc. Notes: In a bull market analysts will often mention that everything is going up, even the cats and dogs. a year. ``There is no way the city can meet the mayor's no-kill goals with an inexperienced in·ex·pe·ri·ence n. 1. Lack of experience. 2. Lack of the knowledge gained from experience. in manager at the helm,'' said Mary Cummins, president of the nonprofit A corporation or an association that conducts business for the benefit of the general public without shareholders and without a profit motive. Nonprofits are also called not-for-profit corporations. Nonprofit corporations are created according to state law. Animal Advocates. ``I do not believe he is the person for the job. He's from a small town on the East Coast. He lacks experience in animal services.'' Stuckey's defenders pointed to his broad range of experience in municipal government and said that experience running an animal-related department was not necessary for the position. ``There are many individuals here who say that animal-services experience is a prerequisite to this position,'' said Alexander Rubalcava, vice president of the commission that oversees the Department of Animal Services. ``I would like to question that assumption.'' The Animal Services department has long been a source of contention among animal activists and city officials. The last permanent general manager of the department, Jerry Greenwalt, retired in April after a series of protests targeting his office and home. Animal activists also have picketed outside of Hahn's home in San Pedro. Pamelyn Ferdin, co-founder of the Animal Defense League-Los Angeles, said that activists hope to derail de·rail intr. & tr.v. de·railed, de·rail·ing, de·rails 1. To run or cause to run off the rails. 2. Stuckey's appointment by the City Council but are unsure they will have the votes. The next step, she said, would be to defeat Hahn in his March 2005 re-election bid. James Nash, (213) 978-0390 james.nash(at)dailynews.com |
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