A top Los Angeles city employee was severely mauled by a dog Friday at a shelter in San Pedro, an incident that follows growing concerns about overcrowding and unsanitary conditions for dogs at the city's animal shelters. .
Leslie Corea, a kennel supervisor at Harbor Animal Shelter, told The Times on Saturday that she was taking a dog out of her kennel to show it to a rescue group when it “went crazy” and attacked her leg.
Korea said she was undergoing surgery at Harbor UCLA-Medical Center.
Megan Ignacio, a spokesperson for LA Animal Services, confirmed that an employee was “severely attacked by a dog, resulting in serious injuries.”
“The staff and volunteers at LA Animal Services are devastated by the injuries of our co-worker and friend. LA Animal Services has already launched an investigation into this incident,” Ignacio said.
The city's animal shelters are in crisis due to a lack of space and an influx of animals, according to an email to the public from Animal Services sent near the end of the day Friday.
The email did not mention the incident involving the employee, but urged the public to adopt and foster dogs.
The email said the dogs are “suffering physically and mentally due to their excessively long stays in shelters or difficult conditions resulting from overcrowding in city shelters.”
Department of Animal Services General Manager Staycee Dains wrote in the email that “the crisis has put staff, volunteers and animals in harm's way and we will continue to prioritize making this system safer for everyone involved.” “.
The department has the capacity to “safely and humanely care” for approximately 800 dogs at a time, according to the email.
But there are more than 1,500 dogs supervised by the department and nearly 50 dogs enter shelters each day, according to the email.
Poor conditions are leading the department to kill more dogs. Animal Services euthanized 102 dogs in April, a 44% increase compared to the same period last year.
Animal Services publishes a list of dogs with scheduled euthanasia dates, which volunteers call the “red list.” Animal Services does not see it as a “kill list” but as a “call to action,” according to Ignacio. According to the department, nearly 90% of dogs listed since July 3, 2023 have been rescued.
“These are animals that, if given the right home or rescue, could be rewarding companions, but may need specific experience to thrive, or need a patient, loving, invested home to take them in right away,” Ignacio said in an email last month.
A photo shared on the Animal Services Bobby was adopted on May 24 by Animal Rescue Mission. Shira Astrof, founder of the rescue mission, says the city's method of determining which dogs go on the “red list” is flawed, because Animal Services staff incorrectly listed Bobby as a safety concern.
“They give the dogs made-up behavioral notes,” Astrof said. “He is an incredibly sweet and happy dog and he is an example of how these fake notes put adoptable dogs on the 'kill list.' (Animal Services) must admit that they are simply killing dogs for space.”
In the past, the department has steadfastly denied that they euthanize animals to make room at city-operated shelters, as they operate with a no-kill policy.
Animal activists called for significantly more funding for Animal Services in Mayor Karen Bass's $12.8 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. But the city kept the level of spending for the department more or less the same as this year.
Councilwoman Eunisses Hernández, who chairs the committee that deals with animals abroad, was among those who voted against the budget last month.
At the council meeting, Hernandez expressed frustration that about a quarter of the budget will go to the Los Angeles Police Department instead of other city agencies.
On Saturday, Hernandez said in a statement that she was devastated by the incident involving the employee.
“The state of the city's animal shelters remains completely unacceptable,” Hernandez said. “It is urgent that we take immediate action to address the crisis in our shelters to protect the safety and well-being of both the animals in our care and their caregivers.”
Bass' office did not respond to requests Friday for information about the injured Animal Services employee.
Ignacio, the Animal Services spokesman, said last month that the department was working with Bass's office to minimize the effect of eliminating jobs that were left vacant, including support jobs in shelter operations, veterinary medicine and animal care. .
The department also intends to “prioritize access to spay/neuter services and focus on enforcing laws against illegal breeding,” department spokesperson Ignacio said.
“In all cases we need public participation to save lives. The most important thing is to work to stop the flow of animals to the shelter,” he said.
