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 were well-groomed. We even had a raised bathtub in our garage with hot water to give them their baths, and the neighborhood kids loved helping me bathe and groom them.

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 in Section 10.40.200 that apply directly to commercial pet breeding facilities.

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.

Animal sheltering has changed dramatically in the past ten years. What was once a mainly reactive approach to lost and unwanted animals has turned into a proactive model where intervention strategies strive to prevent the separation of pets from their families in the first place. This has had tremendous positive impact on maintaining the human-animal bond and redefining the role of animal shelters in the community.

In November I received a delightful letter from a seven year old girl named Madeline, requesting our permission for her to keep a unicorn in her backyard if she could find one. I happily agreed to allow her to keep a unicorn, with conditions. These included compliance with Los Angeles County Code regarding the keeping of animals; the unicorn must have regular access to sunlight, moonbeams, and rainbows; it must be fed its favorite treat – watermelon – at least once a week; that its horn must be polished every month with a soft cloth; and any glitter used on the unicorn must be nontoxic and biodegradable.

One of the most defining aspects of working in animal welfare is that you never know what situations may come your way, especially in a county the size of Los Angeles. These surprises and challenges must be responded to and resolved, while also maintaining our ongoing operational effectiveness and planning for the future. This calls for superior leaders who are ready to face whatever comes their way.

Like most people who work in animal welfare, there have been animals I have come across in my career who have left lasting impressions on me. I still think about them decades later, sometimes with happiness and sometimes with regret.

Recent media reports about overcrowding and lack of exercise for dogs at some other Los Angeles area animal shelters has prompted discussions about animal shelter population management. This is a key operational issue for animal shelters and deserving of the public’s attention.

In the early 1990’s I was the executive director of a humane society in Kansas. It was a very rewarding job and we helped many animals. A number were dogs that fled in terror during the frequent thunderstorms that rolled across the prairie. Safe in our animal shelter, they still believed the world was coming to an end and could not be consoled until the weather had passed. Sometimes tornados swept down on us, leaving immense destruction in their wakes.

Some dogs and cats have lived remarkably long lives. In March, Guinness World Records named Chihuahua “TobyKeith” the oldest living dog at 21 years, 66 days old. The oldest dog ever recorded was an Australian Cattle Dog that passed in 1939 at the age of 29 years, five months. The world’s oldest cat, Crème Puff, lived to be 38 years and three days.