A dog's life

Geurdon Stuckey, head of the LA Department of Animal Services, was handed his walking papers by Mayor Villaraigosa this week. A bureaucrat with no experience in animal services, he'd been appointed by Mayor Hahn over the objections of a broad coalition of animal rights activists. The department runs animal shelters across the county, mobile spay/neuter pet clinics, adoption events, and animal control. Stuckey wasn't able to lower animal euthenasia rates and couldn't please anybody, from the animal services Board of Commissioners to mainstream rescue organizations to the extreme Animal Liberation Front, which smokebombed his downtown apartment in September. Stuckey will be replaced by Ed Boks, the outgoing head of New York City Animal Care and Control, who has been recieved with universal enthusiasm (well, nothing yet from the Animal Liberation Front).

Maybe what you really need for Christmas is a dog. Or a cat. Or a chicken, or a rabbit, parakeet, hamster, iguana, or sheep, all of which are waiting for homes at LA shelters right now.

Photo by Beth Loft via Flickr