Animal Activists Looking for More Walk Than Talk from the Mayor

VOICES-Animal activists protested at the home of Mayor Eric Garcetti on June 28, chanting to bullhorn prompts that resounded through the sedate Hancock Park neighborhood, demanding he fire Los Angeles Animal Services GM Brenda Barnette, and “…alleging corruption and severe animal abuse and neglect at the city’s shelters,” ABC7 reported. 

The Mayor’s office acknowledged their concerns in a pat-on-the-head response, stating, “We are working to address these complicated animal welfare issues and support Brenda Barnette and her work in this administration.” 

A smaller group of protesters gathered in front of Getty House again on August 1. Will more yelling cause Barnette to be fired? It’s not likely.  

Lest we forget, Eric Garcetti doesn’t recoil from protests. When Occupy L.A. arrived on the City Hall lawn in 2011, then-Council President Garcetti rushed out to greet them, graciously proclaiming, “Stay as long as you need, we’re here to support you.” And they did stay, until December, when sanitation issues and landscape destruction became intolerable and LAPD quietly but effectively invited them to leave. 

Garcetti was just cutting his political teeth in City Council in 2001 when the decade-long Animal Defense League-Los Angeles (ADL-LA) protest era began. Mayors Hahn and Villaraigosa were plagued at home and public events by demonstrators in black skeleton costumes carrying signs stating “Puppy Killer” and “Blood on your Hands.” Vandalism occurred at the homes of managers and employees of L.A. Animal Services. 

Three former general managers succumbed to the pressure placed on public officials by activists, but the terrorist tactics frightened and alienated both politicians and the public.  

On April 24, 2009, Ed Boks resigned after 3-1/2 tumultuous years. On June 17, 2010, Councilman Paul Koretz joined Mayor Villaraigosa to announce that, after an extensive search, Seattle Humane Society Director Brenda Barnette was the “most qualified” of the reported 120 applicants for the L.A. Animal Services GM position. She had no animal control experience, was a former dog breeder and current legislative representative for the Seattle branch of the AKC. But, the ADL-LA loved Barnette and the protests stopped. 

According to former Commissioner Marie Atake in a July 9, 2010, Examiner.com article, Villaraigosa, again, chooses the wrong advisors for LA Animal Services, “…an endorsing panelist [on the selection committee]…lobbied other panelists to go to Paul Koretz, who became persuaded to strongly advise the Mayor to appoint Barnette.” 

Koretz told me, personally, that he asked the Mayor to include him in the selection process because he “loves animals.” 

{module [1177]}

Soon a really strange thing happened in City Hall. LA Animal Services--which received $23 million this year under the City budget as a Public Safety agency, and which enforces animal laws as a primary duty under LAMC Chapter V, Public Safety and Protection--stopped reporting to the Council’s Public Safety Committee.  

The Personnel Committee, chaired by Paul Koretz, was renamed the Personnel and Animal Welfare Committee (PAW.) Since then, Koretz has heard and decided all major issues regarding LAAS, although he has no apparent expertise in the care and control of animals, sheltering or law enforcement. “Loving animals” does not make you an expert. 

Here are just two of many items that demonstrate Councilman Paul Koretz has control over LAAS policies: 

When Brenda Barnette decided in June 2013 that impounded pregnant dogs should have puppies in the shelter so they could be sold to pet shops after the “puppy mill” ban, Paul Koretz told her “no” at the PAW Committee at the urging of activists, but without notable reprimand. 

When Barnette issued a written notice to her employees--but not to city officials--on March 14, 2013, that, “At the end of this month, Animal Services will not have Animal Care Technicians (ACTs) in the shelters from midnight until 6 AM,” Koretz quickly funded more staff to quell bad publicity. 

Are animal protesters missing their mark at Getty House? Paul Koretz was involved in hiring and continually provides reports on Brenda Barnette’s performance to the Mayor through PAW Committee actions. Shouldn’t activists address their concerns to Councilman Koretz?     

More Animal Abuse Links 

●KABC, June 28, 2015, Animal Rights Activists Allege Severe Animal Abuse In Los Angeles Shelters   

●Atake, Marie, Examiner.com, Villaraigosa, again, chooses the wrong advisors for L.A. Animal Services.