DON’T LET THE WEST VALLEY ANIMAL SHELTER BE GIVEN AWAY!

TAXPAYERS - DON'T LET THE WEST VALLEY ANIMAL SHELTER BE GIVEN AWAY!
20655 Plummer St, Chatsworth, CA 91311
The West Valley Shelter was closed during COVID 19 and rather than re-open it, LA Animal Services General Manager Brenda Barnette proposed to Mayor Garcetti that they give the shelter to private organizations. This is not the first time Ms. Barnette has given away an animal shelter that has been paid for by the taxpayers of Los Angeles.
How this affects taxpayers that reside in the West Valley area:
• No place for stray animals to go.
• No law enforcement for animal cruelty, neglect or nuisances.
• No West Valley animal control officers to answer public safety, injured animal or dangerous dog calls.
• West Valley is the only of our six city shelters that can house larger animals like horses. Where will they go?
• West Valley is used for evacuations during natural disasters like wildfires, earthquakes and hoarding cases.
• If your dog gets lost how will you find it? Brenda's new idea is to give the lost pets back to the community to deal with. But our taxpayer dollars go to LA Animal Services to do this very thing.
• No oversight or accountability.
What this means to the surrounding areas and shelters:
• Current shelters, already mismanaged, under supplied and underfunded, will be overtaxed with overflow.
What does it mean if you are an animal lover?
• Animals will suffer.
I vehemently oppose Brenda Barnette's plan to give away The West Valley Animal Shelter to private organizations. She's already given away two city buildings that taxpayers paid for under your watch. This should not be allowed to happen a third time.
The West Valley Shelter services close to one million Los Angelenos and is paid for by taxpayer dollars to provide animal control and public safety. Taxpayers will be affected in the following ways:
• No place for stray animals to go.
• No law enforcement for animal cruelty, neglect or nuisances.
• No animal control officers to answer public safety, injured animal or dangerous dog calls.
• West Valley is used for evacuations during natural disasters like wildfires, earthquakes and hoarding case and is the only one of our six city shelters that can house larger animals like horses. Where will they go?
• Brenda's new idea is to give the lost pets back to the community to deal with. However, this is what are taxpayer dollars pay for.
Furthermore, the services Ms. Barnette is proposing in her reconstitution plan such as spay/neuter clinics, microchipping, dog training, adoption partners, pet pantries, shelter intervention programs, are already in existence from local non-profits that currently collaborate with LA Animal Services. These services should be offered on top of city run animal control so there is law enforcement and public and animal safety for all taxpayers in the West Valley.
Based upon the above, I think you should deny this proposal and put the "SERVICE" back into LA Animal Services.