Recently DACC animal control officer Matthew Davoodzadeh responded to a call to recover a deceased dog, but upon arrival discovered the one-year old Shih Tzu was not actually dead but terribly injured and in need of emergency treatment. He immediately rushed the dog, later named “Yumi”, back to the department’s Palmdale Animal Care Center where Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT) Alexandria Jarlsberg led animal caretaking staff to begin immediate lifesaving actions to save her.

As I write this, DACC is continuing its emergency animal sheltering services for residents displaced by the devastating Lake Fire, which has burned more than 31,000 acres in the Antelope Valley of northern Los Angeles County. The Ranch Fire near Azusa has been burning as well, causing further evacuations. Additionally, approximately 12,000 lightning strikes have started 585 fires in California over the past week, burning more than one million acres. There is no end in sight for these current wildfires, and more than 13,000 firefighters are battling the fires across California to protect lives and property.

The Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control (DACC) has adopted a new strategy for helping animals as part of its implementation of the nationally recognized animal sheltering model known as Socially Conscious Animal Sheltering (SCAS), adopted by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on August 6, 2019. Called “Managed Intake,” this strategy aligns DACC practices with the needs and resources of the community to reduce the need to accept animals into the seven DACC animal care centers and increase positive outcomes for stray and unwanted animals.

Returning to the Workplace: As society starts slowly reopening from the coronavirus shut down, some people will begin returning to work outside the home and must leave behind pets that became accustomed to their ongoing companionship. Pet owners returning to work outside of the home will likely be concerned how their pets will handle the…

School closures due to the Coronavirus pandemic have significantly changed home life for both families and their pets. Children are now home full time, learning new ways to engage with their teachers while continuing their education. Smaller children that would be in day care or pre-school are also home. Parents working from home may be distracted by work responsibilities and challenged to monitor their children’s and pets’ interactions.

The most rewarding thing about working for animal care and control is the opportunity to help people and animals. Animals touch everyone’s lives and being a resource to assist them and their pets with the many issues that arise helps make safer and happier communities.

Today the County of Los Angeles closed all County buildings to the public, including animal care centers.  As COVID-19 changes how we currently interact with each other, I’d like to tell you how DACC is responding to this challenge and how pet parents can adapt to these changes in our society.

Assembly Bill 1553 became effective on January 1, 2020. This bill changed the language in several sections of code in California law.

On January 10, 2020 California Governor Gavin Newsom released his proposed 2020-21 budget. To the wide acclaim of animal welfare advocates throughout the state, the budget includes a $50 million one-time grant for the University of California Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program to develop a grant program for animal shelters. The program will include interactive group training for approximately 100 shelters, selected on a voluntary basis and prioritized by need; California and regional best practices summits; and an online resource library available to all shelters. Over a five-year period, this program will provide expertise, support, and assistance to help local communities achieve the state’s longstanding policy goal that no adoptable or treatable dog or cat is euthanized.

It’s the holiday season and sadly not everyone has the opportunity to have a home to share with their cherished family pets. People experiencing homelessness must sometimes make heart-wrenching decisions between being housed versus keeping their animals. Far too often, pet owners who lose a place to live can only find housing that does not allow pets. This places them in the impossible situation where they must decide to accept the housing and relinquish their pets or keep their pets but be unhoused.