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ANIMAL WATCH - A woman who was first “believed to be missing” by her family was found dead inside her locked tent in a homeless encampment near downtown Los Angeles this week, with her two dogs later confirmed to have eaten parts of her body, according to a May 14, 2025, report first published by Patch.com.
A later report by KNBC-4, and confirmed by other news outlets, stated that two bodies were found inside the tent on Monday, that of a man and woman. The woman was identified as 46-year-old Lucrecia Macias Barajas by the LA County Medical Examiner. Her family says she was a mother of six and a veteran who served in the U.S. Army.
This gruesome discovery in the Westlake district is currently under investigation.
There is also speculation that the woman had already died and the dogs, which were confined, had been without food for several days.
The tragedy occurred in an encampment on Huntley Drive and Third Street according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Witnesses told NBC4 the tent was locked from the inside, forcing the daughter of the deceased woman to rip through the tent on Huntley Drive. People who live near the encampment say the daughter had been looking for her mother for a few days.
They said they had been calling LAPD and Los Angeles Animal Services, which finally sent an officer to pick up the dogs after the mauled human bodies were found. Neighbors told NBC4 that they have called the city several times, but nothing has been done, according to the report.
The encampment is in a cul-de-sac, and people who live in a neighboring apartment building say, “it's like a drive-through for drugs.”
"We were very tired with the situation with the homeless here. This is a very nice neighborhood," said one resident. "They sell drugs around here. It's new. I’ve lived here for seven years. This never happened before. Never, never, never, never! So, I hope somebody does something. The city has to know about this problem."
The tent where the bodies were found is underneath a sign that prohibits camping or sleeping on the street. Residents claim their calls to police and the city to enforce the sign go unanswered.
The disturbing discovery happened the same day Gov. Gavin Newsom called on cities and counties to address encampments, escalating the state's efforts to ban the growing number of makeshift camps on sidewalks and in parks.
However, the governor seemed to forget that he supported getting the homeless people into encampments in residential communities, as he now responded to community frustration by telling law-enforcement, "Time to do your job,” and adding, “People are dying on their watch."
It took this very dangerous and tragic situation to get response from their Council office, several residents stated. Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who represents the district, released a statement about the deaths and the encampments, which read in part:
"This is a horrific and unacceptable tragedy and our hearts are with the victims and their loved ones. Our office is working closely with city departments and community partners to respond to this incident and ensure impacted communities have the resources they need."
Neighbors of the location report there has been no response to their complaints of tents and makeshift shelters made of canvas and/or plastic and tied to railings, abandoned/ damaged structures or partially destroyed fencing, located just west of downtown Los Angeles on Huntley Drive and Third Street, near the Westlake area and a high school. Residents report there are four schools in the immediate area.
Most stores have long ago left this area because of the high-crime and dangerous conditions. Buildings that housed markets and other local businesses have been essentially abandoned because of the drug trafficking, prostitution and other crimes that plague an area which, just a few decades ago was the residential fringe of a thriving civic center.
The same dangerous and unsanitary conditions and unsafe streets have driven low-income families and elderly retirees who populated older apartment buildings, out of the area.
NO RESPONSE BY L.A. ANIMAL SERVICES
Area residents told KTLA they had called L.A. Animal Services and LAPD many times “asking for help with this out-of-control encampment that was engaging in criminal behaviors and allowing their aggressive, dangerous dogs to roam off leash.”
It was not revealed whether an attack on the woman and her male companion resulted from cruelty inflicted on the dogs or whether they resorted to eating the body of a deceased person from starvation.
According to an experienced animal cruelty investigator not involved in this case, it is not likely that the dogs would have eaten the bodies unless they had been deprived of food for a period of more than two days. He suggested that this most likely was the result of prolonged food deprivation and the dogs being confined in the tent and unable to escape, and thus having no other mode of survival.
CITY OFFICIALS KNEW ABOUT THE ENCAMPMENT, THE DANGER AND CHOSE TO IGNORE IT
This encampment is located in Eunesses Hernandez, Council District 1 @cd1losangeles and is near four schools, according to the report.
One local resident commented, “It’s been there for so long it’s shown on Google Maps,” adding that it takes a dead body being eaten by dogs in an encampment before a council member will do anything to help.
Los Angeles is not going to change the people who live on Skid Row and endanger anyone who dares to enter the crime and trash-strewn streets, but Alvarado & Wilshire Blvd. is the new 6th & Main Street.
THE TRAGEDY FOR THE DOGS IS BEING DOWNPLAYED
This was undoubtedly not the first time L.A. Animal Services had received a call about these dogs; but apparently, they had decided it was not worth another response. The difficulty of enforcing any laws and especially one regarding an act of violence in a homeless encampment is almost impossible.
On one side are the homeless activists who claim that there is a justifiable reason for any action by a dog who may have suffered violence or had to defend itself for a reason.
And, on the other side, there residents who are terrified to speak up, knowing they will be alone and unprotected after authorities leave. Thus, governmental law-enforcement agencies do not want to risk lawsuits or public condemnation for attempting to remove a homeless person’s property and/or support animal.
Either way, it is unlikely public opinion (which is constantly directed by activists who were not at the scene, but which make large donations to shelters in order to influence policy) would support seizing and potentially euthanizing a homeless animal regardless of its level of aggression.
HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS ARE DEATH TRAPS FOR PETS
If anyone lives in the Westlake (MacArthur) park area or even drives south from the Hollywood freeway on Alvarado Street, they know what L.A. street life is like.
If you stay a few days, you will see someone die or an animal beaten or a staged Pit Bull fight for betting, or just the killing of someone’s pet. Los Angeles and City Hall cannot deny that this is what they have allowed in the heart of the City.
FIRE HYDRANTS ARE (APPARENTLY) NOT JUST FOR DOGS IN L.A.
The problems in this City are so out of control that every elected official should be forced to spend time out of his/her cushy office just driving the problem areas of this City.
As I drove on historic and trendy Wilshire Blvd. last week in lanes of mid-day traffic and stopped for a traffic light, a middle-aged homeless man walked over to the fire hydrant at the curb a few feet away from me, unzipped his baggy pants and urinated on the fire hydrant while the lines of stopped traffic watched.
THIS LACK OF CONTROL IS A SOCIETAL WARNING
We cannot fix our homeless, drug-drenched neighborhoods with a few social workers or a temporary street cleaning. Los Angeles City government has demonstrated that it doesn’t care about its homeless problem (people or pets) – a drive down Alvarado Street, past Westlake Park proves the Council is deliberately ignoring the decay. There is zero police presence, when there should be a patrol car available within minutes (if not seconds), if we intend to make our city safe again.
Let’s hope the horrific death of this woman and suffering of these dogs that caused such a drastic act for survival, causes someone in City government to say, “this is enough—enough waste of tax money and enough human and animal suffering.”
This woman undoubtedly died in agony and the dogs undoubtedly suffered such intolerable pain, fear and hunger that it caused them to become a danger to society. How could they ever trust a human—or a human trust them, again?
They should not be given to a “rescue” to spend an endless life in a cage or otherwise restrained to garner donations for an organization that will take credit for “saving” them.
STOP ADOPTING ANIMALS TO HOMELESS PERSONS
Would you want your beloved cat or dog (or other pet) given away free to someone who has no safe shelter for themselves and cannot afford to feed him/herself? The ownership of a pet is a serious responsibility that cannot be left to chance.
Some homeless people have just fallen into bad times and will recover; however, the responsibility of a pet may be an impediment to moving, working extra hours, and may require special housing.
A pet also requires “responsibility.” Just giving someone a responsibility does not make them “responsible,” and too many pets are ending up in homeless living conditions, which is not the same as providing a “home.”
(Phyllis M. Daugherty is a former Los Angeles City employee, an animal activist and a contributor to CityWatch.)
