CUTE CANINES SENT AWAY DELIBERATELY? ANGELENOS LOSE ADOPTION CHANCE.

Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer

Animal rescuers are in a lather over municipal animal shelters in Los Angeles they say have earmarked the best-looking dogs for adoption in cities across the state.

The activists also claim that a majority of the dogs tentatively picked for the PetSmart Rescue Waggin' become sick during lengthy quarantines, fail to qualify for export, then face a greater chance of being euthanized after they are sent back to the shelters as unhealthy dogs.

``They're reserving the best-looking dogs, mostly puppies under 20 pounds. They're shipping them out of town to be adopted somewhere else,'' said Amanda St. John, founder of Muttshack Animal Rescue of Lake View Terrace.

``What's wrong is these are animals that would have been quickly adopted by the general public ... and are generally rejected because they get sick.''

The Los Angeles Animal Services Commission will meet Monday to discuss whether to continue or suspend the pilot program after numerous complaints from the general public.

Guerdon Stuckey, general manager for the Department of Animal Services, declined to comment on the Rescue Waggin' program until after the commission meeting.

The PetSmart program began July 1 and has ferried dozens of dogs in its custom Rescue Waggin' van from overcrowded shelters in Los Angeles to less-crowded pounds from San Diego to Sacramento. In Los Angeles, city shelters killed 34,006 animals in 2002-03.

The Rescue Waggin' animals, selected by city Department of Animal Services officials, are each guaranteed adoption at their respective agencies.

PetSmart Charities officials say they intend to rescue 3,000 dogs from Los Angeles shelters next year, plus provide funds to prevent unwanted animals through spay/neuter programs.

``We have estimates that an estimated 100,000 animals are euthanized every year in the greater Los Angeles area, so we felt there was a tremendous opportunity to save animals,'' said Susana Della Maddalena, executive director for PetSmart Charities in Phoenix, Ariz.

``The most important thing is that we want to work with everyone to save pets.''

She said ``it's the city's choice'' if the best dogs are handpicked for shelters in other cities, but she expressed doubts about rescuers' claims.

``I would not base on the transfer list that the city is cherry-picking, or skimming the pick to small dogs and puppies,'' she said, adding that the 60 dogs that rode on the Rescue Waggin' last month were mostly mid- to large-size dogs.

PetSmart Charities, which founded its Rescue Waggin' two years ago to ferry unwanted dogs from the South to states in the upper Midwest, has provided $750,000 to find homes for unwanted pets.

Rescue groups in Los Angeles have asked that the program be re-evaluated to allow Los Angeles residents first dibs on unwanted dogs.

They object to city shelters hanging ``Rescued'' signs next to dogs chosen for health and behavior evaluations at the North Central Animal Shelter, clogging up valuable kennel space.

And they say the city, which won't say where the dogs are headed, permits no accountability for the PetSmart program.

``It's caused a lot of turmoil,'' said Scott Sorrentino, founder of The Rescue and Humane Alliance of Los Angeles, a North-Hollywood-based coalition of 45 rescue groups. ``Now we need to intercede.

``It has to come to a halt - we have to stop the program because it's out of control.''

Last week, of 60 such dogs tapped for PetSmart, 45 were rejected after up to a month in quarantine, according to the Animal Match Rescue Team, Inc., a Los Angeles rescue group.

These dogs - many of which were exposed to such diseases as parvo, distemper and kennel cough - were returned to local shelters at the risk of not being adopted by families seeking healthy pets.

A woman from West Los Angeles was able on Thursday to adopt a Pekinese at the East Valley Shelter selected for PetSmart tests only after the Daily News inquired about the dog.

``When a similar program was presented to us, I said, We don't need help with our young dogs and small dogs,'' said Laura Beth Heisen, a former Animal Services commissioner who serves on the board of AMRT. ``I said they would take our best dogs and leave the rest.

``And that's exactly what has happened.''

Dana Bartholomew, [phone]

dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

(color) A Pekinese-Japanese Chin mix waits at the East Valley animal shelter for adoption Thursday.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer