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Unbelievable Pet Story (with Lessons Learned)!
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08/09/09
I have an unbelievable pet story to share. First you probably were
told already that yesterday's pet adoption festival at Lacy St drew in
approximately 500 visitors, with at least 20 pets finding good homes
(I really wish it would have been more). I want to thank LA Animal
Services and all the volunteers who showed up to help out.
I was tearing down the ASNC booth after everyone left, when around
5:30pm a frantic woman named Jennifer came up to me and asked for
help. She found a cat that looked like it had been beaten with a
baseball bat was lying on the sidewalk barely alive in front of 316
Ave 38 in Mt. Washington. She said she was helping ward of flies
that were landing on the cat but the trauma was too much for her 3
children to witness. She immediately drove to Lacy St for help but
the shelter was closed. A sign outside said for after-hours
emergencies to call the 888 number. She did but received an automated
system, which after wading through options to get "abused animals", a
recorded message came on stating they were closed.
After breaking down in tears, I contacted my friend Wendi and asked if
she could make some calls to help. Within 3 minutes she called me
back stating that she contacted the Lacy St shelter directly and
informed them of the situation. The receptionist at Lacy St informed
her that they can only help if we bring the cat into the shelter
(where an emergency vet is available).
I immediately left everything (including my stereo equipment) at the
festival grounds locked inside the gate and drove over to the injured
cat, where friends Joe, Ernie & Marilyn (thanks to Wendi's calls)
showed up to help. None of us had the proper equipment (loop pole,
long gloves, etc).
While waiting for my friends to show up, I decided to call 911 and
reported it as a "criminal offense" and that we need their help
immediately for this abused animal. Within 10 minutes an animal
control officer from Lacy St showed up!! Unfortunately we were
unable to trap the cat and it ran away from us. While searching we
found several other stray cats, some in desparate need of medical
attention.
I was surprised that Lacy St showed up so quickly after calling 911,
and if we didn't call 911 they would not have come! I mentioned this
to the officer who was surprised and informed us we should have been
able to contact the Lacy St shelter through the 888 number for this
type of emergency, since he's on call just for that. Instead we had
to go through another City Dept to act as a liaison!
Observations
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1) The city's 888 number advertised as an pet emergency # is really NOT for emergencies.
2) Apparently no easy system exists (or is working properly) for handling off-hours abused pet emergencies (we need a 911-type number for pet emergencies)
3) Misinformation by the receptionist at the shelter last night created unnecessary use of 911 services to get an animal control officer to come
4) A big part of the overcrowding problem is due to stray, unneutered cats in the neighborhoods surrounding the Lacy St shelter. |
I think there are several lessons to be learned here, including the
need for a grass-roots effort to trap these strays and get them
neutered. To this end I am trying to start up a Northeast LA
volunteer TNR group (Trap, Neuter & Release). We would meet once a
month, set traps, and bring them to SpayNation in Burbank, who will
spay for free any TNR strays brought in. We could also approach the
ASNC for help supporting and promoting this effort.
If you would like to volunteer for this TNR group, please let me know ( marklegassie@ gmail.com )
or 323-823-3046).
I also plan on working with LA Animal Services to address the issues
above and see if there's anything the city (with neighborhood council
help) can do to improve it's services to all abused pets.
You just have to take a minute and watch how the events of yesterday's
Pet Adoption Festival at LA Animal Services North Central shelter
unfolded. The day has been magically captured in such detail that
even the *emotions* of the homeless pets eager to be adopted can be
seen.
One photo in particular I like is a little girl wearing a pink dress
having the time of her life walking a cute orange puppy.
The slideshow was created by Martha Benedict, the official
photographer for this festival, who volunteered her time as a
professional photographer to help the plight of homeless animals.
Watch the slide show at: http://www.marthabenedict.com/petfest/
Martha is available anytime for shooting parties, weddings,
anniversaries, or fun festivals like ours! Email her at mfbenedict@earthlink.net for more information. |
Mark Legassie
Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council, Treasurer
Department of Neighborhood Empowerment
City of Los Angeles
email: treasurer@asnc. us
Ph: 323-823-3046
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Accolades to you, Mark!
From the ASPCA website at http://www.aspca.org/adoption/feral-cats-faq.html:
The ASPCA endorses Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) as the only proven humane and effective method to manage feral cat colonies.
Robert Hawkes
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FYI -- a note just received from DONE's General Manager BH Kim regarding the abused pet story sent out yesterday. He took the time out of his day to stop by our festival and hang out for over an hour observing the shelter's desperately overcrowded situation.
What a guy!
Mark Legassie
-----Original Message-----
From: Arroyo Seco NC Treasurer < asnctreasurer@ gmail.com >
To: Grayce Liu < Grayce.Liu@lacity. org >
To: BongHwan Kim < BongHwan.Kim@ lacity.org >
Sent: 8/9/2009 2:02:24 PM
Subject: Fwd: Unbelievable Pet Story (with Lessons Learned)!
Hi BH and Grayce,
After meeting Kathy Davis, GM of Animal Services, at our festival
yesterday (and she is very approachable) , this week I will be calling
her to discuss a city-wide vision to use the power of Neighborhood
Councils and volunteers to start a Pet 9-1-1 system for abused
animals and TNR (trap-neuter-return) program.
Cheers,
Mark Legassie
-----Reply Message-----
From: "BongHwan Kim" < BongHwan.Kim@ lacity.org >
Date: August 9, 2009 8:00:44 PM PDT
To: < asnctreasurer@ gmail.com >
To: "Grayce Liu" < Grayce.Liu@lacity. org >
Subject: Re: Fwd: Unbelievable Pet Story (with Lessons Learned)!
That is so awesome!! Kathy did seem very approachable - although I'm not sure how long she will be there. Let me know what transpires. Please be sure to reserve Saturday 10/11 from 9 - 3 pm for the citywide congress event @ city hall. I'd love to include you on the Emerg Prep panel with CERT, EMD, and others.
Great job on the pet adoption festival. This is clearly another example of how NCs are filling gaps in city services at the neighborhood level. These gaps will grow wider with the city budget crisis. I can use this as an example to show other city departments how to partner with NCs using the considerable volunteer power of the NCs.
Bhk |