Griffith Park Blog » People who don’t know any better

LA County Animal Shelters, and Why They Should Be Put to Sleep.

Donna Barstow — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 10:52:40 +0000

I learned about the LA County Animal Shelters through Facebook 2 years ago, but the first push to write this was either a chicken or her egg. Or her good friend, the duck. *

hen and duck lost at baldwin park shelter - photo by Elaine Seamans on Facebook

They were found together, wandering near the road (of course – the chicken wanted to cross it), and picked up by Baldwin Park Animal Shelter. Not too far, just east of Pasadena near the 605. The volunteer who took these pix and posted them on Facebook, Elaine Seamans, said they appeared to be bonded. They do look very friendly, as you can see in the video. The chicken has just laid a brown egg (the expensive kind), and is cackling, probably partly in distress, because she knows an egg rolling around on the cement floor of the shelter is bad news. :(

Elaine Seamans discovered the birds, and took the pictures. Thank you so much, Elaine! Here’s the youtube showing the chicken, the duck, and her egg. Jenny Burman, in Chicken Corner at LA Observed has the video up, too!

Please find it in your heart to adopt them, because if they are not claimed by the end of the day on Monday, they will be killed on Tuesday. And they have become so important to me. You can adopt each separately, of course…

And as if you need more incentive, I’ll send whoever adopts them a signed copy of one of my books: What Do Women REALLY Like? Chocolate! or Love Me or Go to Hell: True Love Cartoons.

Baldwin Park Shelter
4275 N. Elton Ave.
Baldwin Park, CA 91706
(626) 962-3577 code 3, 4
(626) 430 2378

Here are the ID#s: Duck: #4319821 and Chicken: #4319817. UPDATE: The duck and the chicken are now SAFE, ADOPTED!!! More at bottom of post.

Now, on with the show.

worst pic ever from a shelter - found this one a year ago. (all pix here were found fonfacebook pages, but are taken at LA County Shelters) If this doesn't make you cry, nothing will.

A good third of my Facebook friends are volunteers and rescue groups all around the country, and I’ve noticed for some time that the worst horror stories (and the worst photos) were from the LA County Shelters. They are always labeled High Kill shelters, and there are terrible stories of dogs supposedly adopted, but PTS (put to sleep), dogs freezing to death in the kennels, 75 killed in one day (last Monday), animals killed before the due date, etc.

chihuahua 1 year - I think he's still here. The rope is almost obscene.

But these are just hearsay, and here is what I have investigated and discovered:

Even though this is a government agency, there are no public statistics on the LA County Shelters website of how many animals they actually take in, how many are adopted out, how many killed, how many die of natural causes, how many owners prosecuted for animal cruelty.
The shelter website is so outdated and damaged that it cannot be revived – it needs a complete overhaul. The platform hasn’t been updated in at least 6 years, and it looks even earlier. The photos are so terrible that I started a collection of Worst Shelter Pix, some of which are in this post.
What other government city, county or state agency is dependent on volunteers to operate? Only this one.
Poor communication with the public, and the remedies for the exploding pet population are after the fact; they don’t do anything on the prevention front.

skinny maltese 10 yr old, with haunted eyes- shelter put to sleep last month for being too aggressive - makes me angry all over again

Statistics for LA County Animal Shelters

There are none. According to Jennifer Ieyza, the Records person for all 6 shelters, they don’t publish or release their records of animals. In fact, she said, they need a court order or a letter from a lawyer to release any numbers. LA City Animal Services is far from no-kill or perfect, but they are accountable. Shouldn’t every government agency, staffed with almost 350 people, getting good health benefits and pensions and vacations on our dime, have to do some work for it? And be accountable for their life and death activity?

Marcia Mayeda has been the Director since 2001. What up, Ms. Mayeda? In a broader sense, how can any business, not just the gov’t, be a business, without records?

It would help if they gave the animal's age. His age is listed as 0. This poor fellow looks like he can't even stand up. Everyone is quite upset about him on Facebook. Can you help?

Animal shelters are always a matter of life and death. And to the hundreds of thousands of small animals killed in county shelters each year, their lives were very important, at least to them. No animal is put down without a heartbreaking struggle to stay alive. There should be a record of these lives. And every reputable shelter strives to improve, adopting more and killing less every year. How can you improve when you don’t have goals or a past to examine and improve?

chihuahua sh 8 mos -The artist part of me thinks this is a great abstract. But it's a terrible picture of the dog if you want to see him...still there

Since Ms. Mayeda or the County wants to hide the actual activities of these shelters, I think we have to take the word of the volunteers who actually go into the shelters day after day. They see and hear the facts. The county shelters are High-Kill, and “enlightened” California isn’t very enlightened here.

A good example of disrespect for the animals - this is labeled turtle. Okay, I guess so.

Antiquated and useless website

This is the cheapest and easiest and fastest fix to reach out to the public and potential adopters, and should be implemented immediately.

Their current LA County Animal Shelter website is useless. County workers had to walk me through it twice – this is because the coding and navigation is terrible. For some reason, animals are put in 2 separate categories, Lost and Found and Adoptions. Once in Adoptions, you go down to Adoptable Animals. This means that anyone browsing has to look through 2 different sections, without know the other one exists.

sh for shorthair. Still there.

And the search box doesn’t work. So even if someone has an animal ID, or wants to look for a breed, or lost their Brown Dog, there’s no way to find them.

The photographs are so bad that I started making copies of them, and put them in my collection of Worst Shelter Pictures Ever. Some look like experimental art, and others like the animal is being tortured. I’ve asked several shelters if they need new cameras. No, they have several. Each animal is photographed on intake (or should be) by the intake officer who picked them up, so the blame (or praise?) is on them. Shouldn’t the worst photographers be disciplined or trained or put on another job?

But let’s be honest here – EVERYONE has a camera with them at all times, in their cell phone if nothing else. No one needs itraining on how take photographs anymore. And no one would take pictures this bad of their friends or family. It’s unfathomable. So what is their excuse for photos this terrible? This is the point at which we should seriously examine their motives: are these bad pictures a way to keep animals from being adopted…job security for the shelter workers, in other words?

In addition, the dog breeds are frequently wrong, as my examples here show. Not only that, it’s county policy not to have the word “Mix” in the label, and they always pick the most aggressive breed (pit bulls, rottweiler) if there is a doubt as to the breed. In other words, they pick the breeds that get adopted least, and for breed-specific rescues, it leaves out another breed that might lead to that animal being rescued.

german shepherd 1 yr A4317813 Good example of how terrible their listings are. Everyone knows this is NOT a German Shep. Some suggest cattle dog. Very handsome, still there.

Also, very important: there should be a category on the site called Unlisted, as a way for concerned citizens, volunteers, and anxious owners who have lost their dog to find out what happened to the animal after their 4 days or 7 days is up. Was it adopted? Put to sleep? No one knows, and this causes a lot of confusion and wasted energy and tears when there is no resolution about the animal. Again, this is a lack of professionalism and respect towards both the animals and the community. Having the power of life and death is one thing, but hiding the outcome is despicable.

Last, at least one category is completely missing on the site: Birds. Yes, the chicken and the duck are nowhere to be found as adoptable animals, and neither are the other birds the shelters have. The county worker I talked to Saturday (after being on hold for 45 minutes) said there is a category called Fowl. NO, there’s not. Perhaps it’s internal only. And this means that as long as they’ve had a site up, they’ve never placed a bird from any of their shelters online. SoCal has more bird owners and breeders than any other section of the country, so this carelessness toward an entire genus is inexcusable towards the public they are supposed to serve.

pit 5 mos One of the good photos on the shelter site.

And if birds are missing from the online list, who knows how many dogs, cats, or other animals are also gone missing, with no opportunity to ever be adopted?

Dependent on Volunteers for the Animal Shelters to Function

This isn’t necessarily bad; from what the volunteers report, and these are people who actually go in the shelters regularly, the shelters are grateful for their help, and they have mutual respect for each other. (Still many reports surface from these insider volunteers, and this is how wrongdoing in the shelters is exposed.)

It’s not obvious from the outside how truly impressive this underground rescue system is. It includes:

the awesome volunteers on the ground at the shelter who do their best to take better, sometimes very good photos of as many animals as they can. Then they have to upload them onto their site, or Facebook page, along with the ID number (which, again, is not searchable on the LA County website, so they also have to link to the EXACT entry) and add any notes they took on how sociable the animal is.
Crossposters send these pix and links to 501 c3 rescues and potential adopters.
Pullers go to the shelter, pay the fees, and make sure the animal is safely out
Often fosters are needed to hold the animals before rescues can get them.
Rescues have their own system of evaluating the animal and getting any medical or training done to make the animal adoptable.
Often it’s transport by truckers or planes, vet work (and sometimes chip-ins, a way to contribute through Paypal), and more!

cold water. That's what this is labeled. I'm going to guess there is a fish in here somewhere...

This is an amazing underground system. And it’s apparent that with the help of volunteers almost any animal is adoptable in time, with this support system. In addition, all of these volunteers have the courage to continue their work when they have failed, and an animal that touched them, even if it was just a few moments of grace as they passed them in the cage or talked to them, is killed.

The essential work by volunteers does a great deal to point out where the shelters themselves fail, and desperately need to improve.

The Shelters Need to Step Up and Work on Prevention – a Spay-Neuter Program!

The shelters are not actually hurting for money; Lt. Rodriguez at Lancaster told me last week that they have some brand new buildings, kennels, and more coming. This is good, because all 6 shelters have the challenge of covering a very large area.

kim morse way on Facebook took this compelling photo at Lancaster - this is what a volunteer does - one picture says it all

And certainly not all of their procedures are a fail. They vaccinate all animals immediately on intake. (Supposedly this is when the photos are taken, too, but about 10% of the animals have no photos at all. Half of the horses have no photo.) And at least some animals do find new homes.

A vet looks at each animal for any symptoms of contagious disease, and they treat any animal that is suffering, unless it needs surgery, in which case they don’t.

They also microchip every animal before it’s adopted. And they will even microchip anyone’s pet, free of charge, due to a donation from the Found Animal Foundation.

They also spay or neuter any adopted animal. But this brings up the biggest failing of the County Animal Shelters: a Spay-Neuter program is the best defense against unwanted animals, but they don’t have any program like this in place! Spaying or neutering once the animal is adopted is great, but it is also closing the barn door after the horse ran away. It does nothing to stop the next wave of abandoned or abused animals.

They are short-staffed, and much of the time the phones are busy or don’t have a response at all. This, along with a useless website, makes communication with the public very difficult.

There is also a statement on the website that should cause some concern: Only shelter veterinarians and certified personnel have the authority to euthanize an animal. Certified personnel? How many county workers does this cover? This is another example which points to job security being more important at these shelters than the safety and adoption of the animals.

The LA County Shelters must get a new website immediately, with a failsafe system to get every animal on it. They need one qualified and dedicated photographer who will stand or fall on his or her accurate photos. Breeds of dogs should be listed by a vet or a QUALIFIED breeder or experienced person. And last, but not least , statistics should be available for the public.

The goal for every shelter should be to be a No-Kill – this would be the most satisfying to the Shelters, the Shelter employees, the County, and the public. Until that happens, urge the Board of Supervisors to get rid of the old ways at the shelters, adopt an animal, don’t buy from breeders, and please please please give a home to the chicken and the duck.

Downey Shelter 11258 S. Garfield Ave. Downey, CA 90242
(562) 940-6898

Carson Shelter 216 W. Victoria Ave. Carson, CA 90248They
(310) 523-9566

Baldwin Park Shelter
4275 N. Elton Ave.
Baldwin Park, CA 91706
(626) 962-3577 code 3, 4
(626) 430 2378

Lancaster Shelter 5210 W. Ave I, Lancaster CA 93536
(661) 940-4191

Castaic Shelter 31044 N. Charlie Cyn Rd., Castaic, CA 91384
(661) 257-3191 or (818) 367-8065

Agoura Shelter 29525 Agoura Rd., Agoura, CA 91301
(818) 991-0071

Last photo by Kim Morse Way on Facebook.

*Elaine Seamans informed me today that the duck and chicken HAVE BEEN RESCUED, and are in foster care right this minute!!! See how this is supposed to work?

The foster is Sharon Tydell on Facebook who gave them to the happy adopter in Glendale. More news to come!

Or were you looking for one of these?

Do golfers lie?

Donna Barstow — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 05:53:23 +0000

I don’t know, are golfers older and white, except for Tiger Woods?

irvine golf course fire set by golfer

Just came across this news on a fire that burned 25 acres in Irvine, that the golfer claims was started by a golf ball hitting a rock. From the LA Times:

A golfer accidentally chipped a rock, setting off a 12-acre blaze next to the Shady Canyon Golf Course in Irvine, officials said.

McKeown said no charges have been filed against the golfer, whose name has been withheld. Apparently, the golfer was in the rough and was trying to hit his ball out of it when he accidentally swiped at a rock, which sparked the blaze at 12:07 p.m. Saturday, officials said.

McKeown said brush fires are not uncommon when temperatures reach into the high 70s and lower 80s and conditions are right.

Yahoo Sports seems to think this is really funny.

Over the weekend, a golfer’s routine swing in the rough at the Shady Canyon Golf Course in Irvine, Calif., struck a rock. Not so different from the way you play, right? Only this time, the impact caused a spark, and the spark set off a blaze that eventually covered 25 acres, according to the Steven Buck, General Manager of Shady Canyon Golf Course, and required the efforts of 150 Orange County firefighters, writes the Associated Press.

Wow. And I felt bad the time I shanked a ball through the window of a house too close to the fairway.

As it was, the blaze required both helicopters and on-the-ground crews.

And now, your turn. This is going to inspire a raft of bad Sportscenter-esque “When we say he set the course on fire, he really set the course on fire!” jokes.

Yeah, if you’re a total jackass. There are over 2700 comments, so I guess a lot of golfers think they’re funny. Maybe they’ll trot over and dance on the graves of all the animals and trees that died. Hopefully, they’ll also win some tournaments, and pay back the thousands of dollars spent on 150 firefighters and the helicopters putting it out.

Did you read the temperatures? It was a very cool weekend – almost like fall. I don’t believe it was a ball hitting a stone. Has anyone actually ever seen this happen? Wouldn’t it have to be a particular stone, like granite? I don’t know the science of fires.

No, this anonymous bad golfer was a smoker, or maybe even deliberately set it, who knows. Did you know that even after the Griffith Park horrendous fire that burned 800 acres, Councilman Tom LaBonge STILL wanted to allow smoking on the golf course?! They’re special folks there!

My fervent wish is for this anonymous golfer to have a relaxing dinner and drinks at the Shady Canyon Golf Course Clubhouse, if they have one, and then spill his guts to the other golfers hanging around there.

Then I shall get his name and report it here.

Photo credit: Thanks to Zach Bates

Or were you looking for one of these?

Bad restaurants and bad foodies.

Donna Barstow — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 00:02:05 +0000

Zocalo recently posted a chat in the weekly updates and announcements they send out, called What is the Cruelest Food You’ve Ever Eaten?

I haven’t been to Zocalo in a couple of years, but they do have some good events and free food, (which isn’t cruel at all). Their lectures are free, and they tackle a lot of serious and interesting topics.

But WTF? Is cruelty a viable subject for humor now? – desperate and fame-whorish, Zocalo. You had an opportunity to explore this disgusting practice, or at least look at both sides, but instead you treat cruelty to animals as a game, or entertainment. Why not ask who eats dogs? Or hobbles horses? Shame on you, Zocalo.

Of course, there’s always cruelty when you eat animals alive, which seems to be a big part of sushi now. Raw is unhealthy, and alive is repulsive to civilized people. But read the quotes below and decide for yourself .

From Roy Choi at Kogi:

I’ve killed a goat with my own two hands. I chased him around a dirt field in the desert, wrestled him to the ground, got him in a head lock, looked him in the eye, and slit his throat. We hung him, skinned him, drained his blood, gutted him, butchered him into primals, then sub-primals. We packed him up and took him across the border to Mexicali where we made birria, the most delicious birria.

This was not a cruel moment for me. It was seven in the morning and I learned about the spirituality of cooking and what my responsibility is as a chef. I did not kill this goat out of haste or carelessness. This was a tradition that my dishwasher Salvador’s family has been doing for many generations and he trusted me enough to show me.

First of all, he’s lying. No one could capture a terrified goat without help. He’s pretending it’s some sort of macho thing, but notice the “we”. And a dishwasher thinks that how to knife a creature is a “tradition”? I hope I never meet him in a dark alley. Barbaric.

You should probably read Dr. Suess to get this one. Here's a Chinese restaurant that doesn't torture anyone.

From Charlie Grosso:

It was not until I was much older that I realized that Shark Fin is not a euphemism for anything. Shark fin actually is the fin of a shark. Then at some cousin’s wedding banquet one day, I discovered that the sharks are often caught, their fins cut off, and then released back into the water to meet their untimely ends.

Would I eat it again? I think I would. Not because I have no compassion for the shark but because not consuming my bowl of soup in a banquette of a hundred would not have stirred the consciences of the restaurant or the other guests. The only conscience that would be disturbed by my meager objection would be my own — at the fact that I wasted good, clean, edible food.

Yeah, that’s how I make my moral decisions: How many other people around me agree with me? What a jackass.

Javier Cabrol is the Teenage Glutster.

Which brings me to what I think is the most inhumane thing I’ve ever eaten in my entire eating career: live lobster sashimi. This dish made full use of those murky lobster tanks that are synonymous with seafood Chinese restaurants. The chosen lobsters were brought to our table for our approval, taken to the back of the house for five minutes at most, then brought back to the table, severed in half and facing each other. Not to mention still pinching with all their translucent flesh scooped out and served on their dislocated tails, all ready for our top-of-the-food-chain chow down. Their beady eyes followed our chopstick ends and they attempted to defend themselves one last time as we nonchalantly reached over for their ultra-fresh sinewy flesh.

My heart pounded and I got tears in my eyes when I read this. This is almost exactly how Hannibal ends. I see no difference between torturing cats, burning insects, killing people, and eating animals while they are still alive.

From Kat Odell at Eater LA.

Since I eat out so frequently for work, I eat a lot of foie gras and I do have to say I love it. There are more humane ways to produce foie that have been mostly explored in France, and it’s a shame that people in the U.S. don’t consider this alternative method (save for Dan Barber at Blue Hill).

Most people know that foie gras comes from geese that have force-fed. You know that pain when you eat too much? Think of your whole life in pain, with food clogging your throat all day long, not allowed to move -total torture. According to Wiki, only 5 countries left in Europe still allow this animal cruelty. Oh, and the gluttonous US, of course.

From Maite Gomez-Rejon at ARtbites.

The cruelest food I’ve ever eaten is live lobster at Sanuki No Sato, housed in an obscure strip mall in Gardena….Always game for trying new foods — especially those that will give me a good story to tell — I was anxious for our lobster’s arrival. When it came to the table it was enormously regal, its eyes staring straight at us, antennas moving as if pleading for help, its now useless armor cut open revealing perfectly sliced flesh.

Um, Maite, that was a terrible story, so, sorry, you will continue to be a bore wherever you go.

See a trend here? Sushi restaurants have been promoting this myth for years: torturing the creature makes it taste better. FDA and USDA, why can’t you crack down on this instead of your asinine regulations on the tiny stuff?

And who’s behind Zocalo?

Gregory Rodriguez, Founder

Thomas Tseng, President of the Board

Swati Pandey, Editor

They are responsible for glorifying this reprehensible topic – and making animal cruelty – their own word – an acceptable, even attractive trait for people who like to eat. They have a Code of Civility posted on their site:

At its lecture series events (“Events”) Zócalo seeks to create an open and civil environment of mutual respect, where all participants can feel welcome.

There is no respect towards other species, when you pick a topic targeting living creatures. I hope the agencies that fund this org will take a closer look at these practices and reconsider whether this non-profit (if it is one) meets anyone’s decency standards. Zocalo FAIL.

Or were you looking for one of these?

Mike McBride kills a pig.

Donna Barstow — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 09:49:43 +0000

Mike McBride kills a boar. Well, he didn’t do the actual knifing, or shooting, of course, but he likes to take all the credit at California Fish and Game, the biggest killing operation in California. In fact, he likes to claim all the animals Fish and Game kills each year. National Guard, take note of your competition!

From the LA Times:

A wild boar that reportedly chased people and smashed into a wrought-iron fence in Loma Linda on Wednesday was captured and will have to be euthanized, officials said.

The boar was spotted roaming a residential neighborhood about 8 a.m. and was finally corralled and sedated by animal control officers, who summoned state Department of Fish and Game officials.

McBride said his agency was told by local authorities that the boar had chased people. The animal, described as dark with a long snout, also charged into a wrought-iron fence and damaged it, he said.

There’s no report online that says the boar charged anyone. I’ll bet $100 he made this up. And with no other source, this “charging”, as if he was a pride of lions, is getting quoted everywhere! Plus, who cares? A dog will “charge” someone who comes too close, too. Maybe Mike should stay away from any animals…

From the Press-Enterprise:

“It charged a wrought-iron gate and did damage. It’s 200 pounds of muscle,” said Mike McBride, an assistant chief with Fish and Game.

It was the animal’s behavior, however, that sealed its fate, he said.

“If it wakes up, how do you control it?” McBride wondered.

What the hell, animals aren’t supposed to have muscle? Apparently, McBride believes that wild animals should be weak and fat, and carry guns. I’m just not sure whether Mike is trying to terrify the public, or….whether he feels a little deficient in the you-know-what category, and has to maximize the ferocity of the animals he kills. Since the only thing the animal did was ram a gate, WHILE TRYING TO ESCAPE FROM PEOPLE WHO WANTED TO KILL HIM, WHICH THEY DID.

And Mike prefers his animals tranquilized, asleep, or preferably dead. If you can’t control wild animals – and apparently Fish and Game can’t, only kill them – let’s give the job to someone who knows how to load the tranquilized, helpless animal on the truck, take it to a forest, and let it walk out of the truck. It’s not rocket science. Apparently, you prefer to load corpses on the truck.

No matter how much McBride crows about how many animals his department has killed, it’s not actually Fish and Game that does the deed: they get permission from Mommy, the USDA, which sends hunters. Here is a report on how many animals they killed in California in 2007 alone: 64,293. Let me repeat that: the agency that claims to protect the state and our natural state and our wildlife killed 64,293 animals and birds in one year. They call this “Wildlife Services.”

Hey, the 2008 reports are up now! Here’s the main page, where you can see how many animals they kill every year, in each state. Not for disease. Not because the animals were suffering. No, every single animal is killed because a farmer or civilian complained. Oddly, although the reports are separated by animal, no wild pigs or boars are listed killed in California. Do they have a different name, or did Mike want to start a new category for pigs?

In 2008 they killed…wait for it…79,751 animals in California alone. Add 291,406 animals and birds they have “dispersed” in this state, either by gun or pyrotechnics, whatever that means, some of which presumably died, due to loss of habitat, food, shock, etc.

The USDA killed over 15,000 more animals this year than last. Uptick in animal bad behavior, I guess. What do you think could be causing it, gangs? The USDA did free some animals (from the traps they set to kill all the others): 1,082 were let go. Less than 2%. Hallelujah.

Scott C’s comment on CBS:

Firstly I’d like to know why I can’t read the other comments due to the Sempre Energy ad box and the news sidebars – why are these not shuffled out of the reader’s view? Anyways, I JUST SAW THIS STORY AND AM FURIOUS!! Why in the @!$# does Animal Control/Services, Wildlife Services and the ilk, which are all funded by our taxpayer dollars, feel the need to kill wildlife? There was NO REASON that the wild boar could not be released back into the wild, except for the ineptitude and laziness of those that feed the catch-poles to the I.E. shelters. It’s so much easier just to “put them down” (i.e. slaughter) than to drive them out to where they came from. The last bastions of nature which we call National Forests and Parks, etc. All for ramming a few pieces of outdoor patio furniture, how thoughtful. To all involved, shame on you and may your next hike be met with Mother Nature’s finest.

Hivehand comments:

Just saw this on the news and was wondering why this animal will be euthanized? Did it have rabies?

No, but wouldn’t that be a great excuse for California Fish and Game, hivehand! The LA County Health Department said there hasn’t been any animal with rabies for over 10 years.

Oh, and the Loma Linda animal services are totally wussy.

Photo of dangerous boar from KNX.

Or were you looking for one of these?

Maybe the Los Angeles Times just doesn’t like Mexicans.

Donna Barstow — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:41:23 +0000

Who says you can’t teach an old dog grey lady new tricks? I’m talking, of course, about the LA Times (which they call the Old Grey Lady.) Liberal bastion. Friend of the homeless. Empathizer of the poor. Yet they have changed their attitude, at least towards one poor group – our gangs. The Times has stopped giving them tongue-baths, and given them a slap on the backside! Watch.

You all know me as the green, mean, Park activist machine, but did you also know how fond I am of the Avenues gang? I bet not!

avenues gang member arrested

I wrote about the Avenidas, as they say, twice last year, both times in response to the positive press the Times gave them. Apparently this gang is very popular, all over the US, not just in LA. Of course, I identify with my homeboys because they are so nearby. According to a map on the Times site, their “territory” begins at the foot of Forest Lawn in Glendale, which I can see from where I live. Also, they’re part of LA’s culture. Or something.

Now, you have to admit, most gangs don’t have the best education. Perhaps irony, sarcasm, or exaggeration weren’t mentioned in their English classes, but you know what? They’re busy guys. They have guns to clean and tats to sit for. So if my writing isn’t that well understood? Well, my bad. Let’s continue.

My first post on the attractive Avenues, or Drew Street Gang, as the hip kids call it, was in 2008: The LA Times has a secret crush on the Avenues Gang!

I can’t decide if it’s the awesome tats or the baggy duds…still stylish a decade later, apparently!

It’s always First Class to get an article written about you on the front page of the Times, and this time it’s the Avenues gang that hit the jackpot. I imagine gangs all over the city are envious, and wondering how they, too, can get such reportage and press. Don’t hesitate to read it: it’s family-ready, and really very forward-thinking!

From my June 2008 post 2 months later:

When you read about a neighborhood painted as loyalists with deep family ties to its members, doesn’t that sound attractive? Perhaps a suburban enclave of LA, or one of those beach towns, with all those diehard volleyball players. Good people, in other words. And so these gangs are, in their hearts.

Last time, the Times writers defined the gang as resilient, powerful, and defiant: survivors, with loving neighbors. They’re definitely not as positive this time; I’m afraid they’ve gotten bitter, and that’s a sad thing to see in a journalist.

The new Los Angeles Times headline on September 23, 2009:

Massive police raid targets brutal L.A. gang

This time, the Times writers get down and dirty; they use the terms vicious, gunned down, entrenched, violent, drug-related, and more!

avenues gang members shackled

The gang, named for the avenues that cross Figueroa Street, has a long, ugly history dating back at least to the 1950s.

Officer Juan Aguilar said:

Some of them [gang members] he had at one time tried to help, telling them quietly that the only way to leave the gang is to leave the city. Others had long ago slipped beyond help, he said.

And:

The day’s only significant use of force was the shooting of two aggressive dogs by San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies.

Oh, that’s right, guns don’t kill dogs, police do. (Although I hate to blame gang types for anything, really, I do wish they’d take their dogs to puppy school before their funny dog fights.)

Federal immigration officials were on hand to deal with any undocumented immigrants, although a DEA spokesman said none of the people arrested were found to be in the country illegally.

Most of the Avenues members and associates included in the indictment are being charged under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Statute, which allows prosecutors to pursue lengthy prison sentences.

Hmm, how would they know about the illegal part? And why would that ever cross their minds?! LA Now blog called the gang people notorious, that they used extortion. BUT, then this…

Drug activity in the area has slowed considerably in recent months, the detective said, but considering the size of today’s operation, the gang clearly has maintained a commanding presence in the area.

Oops, back to the compliments, boys! Who wouldn’t want to have a commanding presence?! Name one teen! This is one for the Avenues Gang scrapbook!

Just one slip-up, Times writers. So even though no one from there has given Griffith Park, Interrupted any pats on the back recently, or even credit, I know you read me, LA Times! You took my essays to heart! Your liberal shades dropped from your eyes for a minute. I’m proud of you.

Photos by Mark Boster, LA Times.

Or were you looking for one of these?

The LA Times has been Wiki-Leaked!

Mountain bikers at your picnic? You decide.

Donna Barstow — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:44:26 +0000

Equestrian Lynn Brown has notified Griffith Park users, equestrians, and city officials that there is a Bicycle Plan afoot that would allow mountain bikes on the Park Trails! This is insane. No one wants to be pushed aside by a piece of noisy, smelly machinery. We already have cars for that. (Or, if they don’t have machinery, they might whoop and holler.) In any case, they squish things that should be left alive and moving.

There is a proposal from the city (why is it that the city listens to bad ideas?) to allow mountain bikers to use non-paved trails in Griffith Park, and all City Parks. This includes the 50 miles of equestrian trails in GP. Presently, this is against the law, but mountain bikers have lobbied pretty successfully to get the Ordinance changed to allow this travesty. Mountain bikes on unpaved trails will do irreparable damage to wildlife habitat.

After years of behind the scenes manipulations, the Bicycle Plan is now open for public review and comment. The mountain bike lobby is making a push for City Park trails by overturning the current City Ordinance forbidding bikes on trails. In this bike plan, bikers are asking for access to trails in Griffith Park, Elysian Park, Serrania Park, O’Melveny Park, Santa Ynez Canyon and Lime Kiln Canyon Park, among others. If the Ordinance is overturned, all Parks will be opened to mountain bikers.

To view the Bike Plan.
For Mountain bike sections go here. Chapter 3, and Appendix H.

For those who were unable to attend the meetings, you can make comments by sending an email to: Mr. Jordann Turner at Jordann.Turner@lacity.org.

Or mail a letter or postcard to:
City of Los Angeles, Dept. of City Planning,
Jordann Turner, Bicycle Plan Project Manager
200 N. Spring Street, Room 721
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Some suggested comments:

The Bicycle Master Plan is a transportation plan. Mountain bikes are a recreational, extreme sport. The mountain bike element should be moved to the Appendix of the Plan. It is NOT City Policy. It has no business being in a Bicycle Master Plan. The mountain bike recreational concerns should be relegated to Rec. and Parks, not brought in under the guise of the Department of Transportation (DOT). This issue (mountain biking) has diverted resources and energies away
from the primary goal to make bicycling a real transportation option.

Mountain biking was found not feasible after the 1996 Bike Master Plan.
This issue was already settled. Nothing is new.

Allowing mountain biking on any trail in any location in the City parks will require changing the City Park Ordinance. If the Ordinance is changed, the door is then open to all trails all the time. It is urgent to support the continued implementation of the Park Ordinance.

The City already spent $5 million on a mountain bike park. Significant
public resources were spent on the strength of CORBA’s word and
commitment to this park. They quit after one try. This should be
investigated.

The City agreed to do environmental studies at this mountain bike park.
It never did.

No one likes a bully, LA City Bicycle Plan. I would feel really uncomfortable colliding with one of these on a windy path, wouldn’t you? Don’t allow this.

Photo thanks to Brian Auer, under Creative Commons on Flickr.

Or were you looking for one of these?

Mountain Lion sighting in Griffith Park.

Noise pollution – who needs it?

Donna Barstow — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 22:06:08 +0000

Once again, Ivanhoe School gives the whole neighborhood the “gift” of amplified drums and “rock music” for 5 hours.[/sarcasm]

The traffic isn’t that bad, nor the streets lined with cars – except for the time they blocked half our driveway – what a nincompoop. And the signs hung up on the fences for the 2 weeks before it are fun and festive. I appreciate anything that celebrates Halloween. But are drums the best accompaniment to their annual Halloween Party? Sucks. Totally NOT festive, and a really swell way to ruin the Saturday afternoon of the whole community.

In case you are as annoyed as I am, their number is (323) 664-0051. Not that they answer it, nor is there any way to leave a message.

Photo thanks to cc photographer andreakw.

Or were you looking for one of these?

My exciting Sunday afternoon.

Coyote Killings Part 2

Donna Barstow — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:16:07 +0000

I think I have the answer. Animal Services of Los Angeles did it.

Taken in Alamo CA by John-Morgan.

The Times says (my bolds):

“When he woke up, the coyote was sitting there,” said Capt. Wendell Bowers of the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services. “Coyotes nip at each other when they want to be fed. This one was waiting for something to eat. It wasn’t trying to eat the man’s foot. It nipped at him.”

Bowers said there was no reliable information about a coyote attack last month that reportedly involved someone who was in the park after closing time.

Officer Gregory Randall, the department’s wildlife specialist, said the city’s procedure is to notify the California Department of Fish and Game after such encounters.

That agency, in turn, called the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which provided hunters.

First I called Chief Ranger Albert Torres, who I know fairly well, but he said he was “not allowed” to talk with anyone about the coyotes, and that Fish & Game were the “lead people.” He also said I might want to call Animal Services. Officer Randall never called me back, but I did get to talk with Captain Bowers, before I saw this article. He basically said the same things that are in the article – that both incidents were very minor.

I also called Senior Officer Mike McBride of Fish & Game. I’ve never been interrupted so often, shouted down, threatened (to hang up), and refused any information about a PR person before. F&G, someone there needs some sensitivity training! He said he had the medical reports, but “not at his desk.” He said the 2nd bite was so minor it was only a scratch and a small bruise – a bite wasn’t mentioned. He said the other report was also a nibble at a foot, at 5 pm a couple weeks before. (Someone from the city who wished to remain nameless said that the reason the first man didn’t report it is because…he works for the city and was goofing off, sleeping. )

When I asked McBride who here in LA actually reported it, he kept saying to blame him, that he took full responsibility. He said it was a 2 night “operation”, and 9 coyotes were killed, not 7.

He also said “it doesn’t matter what happened, whether they were bitten or not. It’s not normal for a coyote to go nearer to any human than 30 feet away.”

Thank you for that ridiculous piece of misinformation, Mr. McBride. Maybe you should come to SoCal sometime.

The real PR person for F&G never called back. Also spoke with Dr. Karen Ehnert, DVM, from the LA County Health Dept. who said it would be very very rare for any animal in Socal to have rabies. None for 10 years now. Just bats. :(

She said it certainly was not the Health Dept. who called Fish & Game. “Why would we ask them to kill animals? That would be useless, since we have no idea which coyote it was. “ Indeed. She said they report any animal bite to Animal Services.

I also talked with Larry Hawkins, from the USDA in Sacramento. He mentioned the state laws on killing coyotes that I linked to in my last post. He said they weren’t trapped, they were shot. 6 males and one female were shot Thursday. I assume the USDA is like most of the government, and believes in getting their money’s worth. I mean, they paid for the men to come down here, for their hotel. Why not make it 2 nights of killing, instead of one? And so 2 more were shot Friday. (for good measure.) They could have been shot with spotlights or infrared, he wasn’t sure.

When I ran regularly in the park, I thought there was a coyote den nearby, because every evening as it got darker they would magically appear next to the trail I ran on. They were never aggressive, and hung their heads if I looked at them. They moved out of the way for me. Still, I had read that a good thing is to have a little mint box with coins to shake if they got close. I was not going to run with that jangly thing, but I shook my keys a few times. No problem.

After one of those torrential rainstorms one winter – remember those? -the den actually got washed away on the top, so I could see the spaces where they slept. Tiny, like big enough for a large cat, 5 little cubby holes leading out from the main tunnel. And less than a yard from the trail. I can just imagine last week, when the USDA killers shot the dogs. There were at least 2 men. Was it a game? Who could bag the most? I assume they enjoy their work. What kind of howls went up from the coyotes left in the pack when they saw their family die, and smelled them, and heard the deadly crack? What was that night like for them, the family gone?And they themselves would die the next night.

If there are 50 coyotes in the Park, as Mr. Hawkins guessed, that’s 20% of our population gone. He told me they eat mostly rodents, as I had read, and also fruit and roadkill. They are the only predator in Griffith Park. (Although no one was able to tell me why our deer population never grows bigger, like back east, where deer are a big problem).

Someone in the Griffith Park Neighborhood Council sent me an email that someone sent to the media. Don’t know who this is, but the details are all right. I bolded the parts I think are important.

9 coyotes were killed by USDA officers 2 nights ago in Griffith Park because a man who was napping in an area where coyotes have been *fed by people on a regular basis ( *illegal activity as indicated by the signs in the area ) , was nipped on the foot by one.
This was not an attack. This was a demand by the coyote who is used to being fed by humans,to be fed. It is a natural behaviour of coyotes used to people feeding it and is often experienced by people who have cats.

The same incident involving a man sleeping in Griffith Park and getting nipped by a coyote, happened 2 weeks ago. That man went to the hospital, and nothing was reported.

2 days ago, another man had the same occurance. Sleeping and getting nipped on the foot. The coyote, after letting him know he was hungry, sat down away from him and waited to be fed.
This man however contacted LAAS wildlife Officers and complained. The officer was imposed by law to contact higher authorities which in this case was the USDA.

USDA officers responded by going to Griffith Park in the evening, setting up bait, and killing 9 coyotes as they came to eat. So much for all the knowledge we have of coyotes and nature. A paint ball in the side would have occomplished more, and no blood would
have been shed.

What an excellent suggestion. Scare them, not KILL them.

For prevention, everyone said not to feed them. Obviously true. However, no one brought up, except Dr. Ehnert, what I’ve complained about for years – either cover the trash cans, like in national parks, or EMPTY them. The picnic area after every weekend is DISGUSTING. The people there must have been brought up to be pigs. Every possible bag, bone, plastic trays, all so gross.

Many people have asked who to complain to. This started with Animal Services. Period. Bok is gone, so Kathleen Davis is current General Manager.

You might also have been disturbed to read about the 64,000 animals the USDA kills EVERY year in California alone. It’s almost too much to imagine. I’ll link to them below, too.

Last…we have an LA Times opinion which is generic and uninformed. Karin Kline’s info is copied from other articles. Her Opinion? Be rude to the coyotes. This nonsense is unacceptable in the most important paper on the west coast.

So: So, LA County Health Dept reported it to Animal Services. They made the call to ask Fish & Game to kill the coyotes. F&G called USDA to pay the killers, who spent 2 nights making a sport of it. Animal Services did a bad, bad thing.

Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/aidanmorgan/ / CC BY 2.0">John-Morgan.

GP Rangers

Calif Fish & Game and good phone: 916 654 3821

USDA

USDA local killers

Animal Services Call 213-482-9558 to get a real answer and the email. Ask for Kathleen Davis.

Or were you looking for one of these?