Being an animal lover from my earliest memories, one of my favorite childhood movies was Dr. Doolittle. As you probably know, Dr. Doolittle was a veterinarian who had the magical gift of being able to talk to animals. Oh, how I wished I was able to do so as well! Unfortunately, this ability doesn’t exist in…

Walking your dog can be one of life’s simple pleasures, offering exercise, bonding time, and a breath of fresh air for both you and your furry companion. However, safety should always be a top priority to ensure a positive and enjoyable experience for both you, your pet, and other people and animals in the community.…

The Covid pandemic rewrote the social contract between employer and employee, creating new opportunities for work scheduling and locations. Employees discovered the benefits of working from home, achieving a better work-life balance by avoiding long commutes and other stressors associated with working outside of the home. One of those stressors includes leaving pets behind all…

Working in the animal welfare field can be an emotionally challenging career choice. Dealing with life and death situations, witnessing animal abuse and neglect, and struggling with limited resources when there is so much need has caused many in this field to leave and pursue other types of work. However, a significant reason people leave…

A big part of getting people to comply with the law depends on how well they can understand what they are expected to do. When I joined DACC, many parts of the Los Angeles County ordinance for animals – called Title 10 – hadn’t been updated for several decades. It was full of arcane legal…

Since the days of Noah some people have been particularly drawn to owning exotic animals. While Noah was ordered to amass his collection to save animals from a flood, these days people obtain unusual pets for different reasons. Some are attracted to the animals’ appearances, others to the novelty and attention they receive for having…

Third in a Series of Blogs about Los Angeles County Code Title 10 – Animals More than twenty years ago we had five large dogs (a Newfoundland, Golden Retriever, Labrador Retriever, German Shepherd, and a Samoyed/Australian Shepherd cross). They were all house pets, of course, and we spent a lot of time making sure they…

In last month’s blog I wrote about the general animal caretaking requirements set forth in Los Angeles County Code Section 10.40.010. Those requirements apply to both pet owners as well as operators of commercial animal facilities such as grooming salons, boarding kennels, wild animal facilities, and pet shops. However, there are additional requirements set forth…

Mahatma Gandhi famously said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” There is no better way to ensure the humane treatment of animals than enacting comprehensive, sensible laws to codify and enforce society’s expectations of how they will be protected.   This premise…