EDITORIAL : LAW FOR THE BIRDS; COUNTY CLOSES RESCUE SHELTER UNDER OBSCURE LAW THAT NEEDS CHANGING.

BUNNIES and turtles and hamsters, oh my.

As cuddly and cute as some of those little creatures might be, they're outlaws in the eyes of Los Angeles County health officials. Anyone harboring them as pets should run for cover.

County health inspectors are relying on an obscure law to force a bird rescue operation to move.

The law says the only animals allowed to be kept within 35 feet of a home or 100 feet of a school are cats, dogs, canaries and parrots.

That means countless people are violating the law by keeping as house pets anything from rabbits and hamsters to snakes and iguanas.

No figures were available for how often the law is applied, but so far it has been enforced against people who own rabbits, ducks, chickens, cows, goats, horses and pigs, officials said.

And now it's being used by the county to shut down Wild Bird Rescue of Los Angeles Inc., operated by Diane Waters at her Silver Lake home.

Last year, Waters rescued 2,829 birds from an East Valley animal shelter in Van Nuys and shelters in Glendale and North and South Central Los Angeles. Her operation saves the Los Angeles Department of Animal Regulation about $6,000 a year, said department spokesman Peter Persic.

Although Waters obtained the proper permits from the state Department of Fish and Game, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and city agencies for zoning and building and safety, she has run afoul of the county's outmoded law.

Waters' neighbor said the nonprofit has been a five-year nightmare of stinky, noisy birds and traffic.

Neighbors have a legitimate right to live in a clean, relatively quiet residential area. But the county law allows any troublesome neighbor to report people who may favor pets other than a cat or dog. A turtle or rabbit, for example, is hardly a nuisance. The law needs to be updated.

Ironically, the driving force behind shutting down Waters' bird rescue operation is Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg, who earlier this month helped a Hollywood sex club stay open without the proper permits.

That kind of selective enforcement of laws leaves us perplexed. It would be instructive to hear Goldberg explain how she determines when one neighbor's complaint against noisy birds is valid while a whole neighborhood squawking about all-night traffic at a club is not.

In the meantime, we hope Waters receives help and support to relocate her menagerie to a good facility outside her home.