In the latest of bulldog audits by City Controller Laura Chick, she finds that the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services is "struggling to move forward." With an nearly a million dogs estimated in the city, the department only has 123,000 dogs licensed. "The largest source of revenue for the department is dog-license fees and, yet, the department tells us that it is not their top priority," quoted the Daily News. Among a myriad of......

There are many ways to handle a tough break-up with a girlfriend, but torturing and injuring a little puppy isn't one of them. The Daily News reports that a 22-year old Encino man, Steven William Butcher, was arrested yesterday in the 6400 block of Bertrand Avenue for animal cruelty. After a break-up with his girlfriend, Butcher was reportedly distraught and had threatened aloud to harm his small puppy. Worried about the man's mental state, a......

A reader submitted a question last week about pigeons in Downtown: pigeons droppings are a major nuisance and a health hazard here in downtown LA, where people keep feeding the birds. Please let me know if there is an ordinance against that, and as a private citizen where does one go to enforce it. Thank you. So, to answer this question, we turn to the Los Angeles Municipal Code (that pesky LAMC that is......

After LA Animal Services released their latest statistics, The Daily News ran a story with this headline: "Animal Deaths Rise in L.A. Shelters". Yet, the number of animals euthanized in Los Angeles has dropped by 20% this year - a hard-won statistic for Ed Boks, general manager for LA Animal Services. Since Los Angeles adopted a no-kill policy 10 years ago, the number of euthanized animals has dropped from 65,000 to 15,000 a year.......

CityWatch is reporting that Gloria Jeff, fired Los Angeles Department of Transportation General Manager, wants her job back. "She says the Mayor … who did the firing … did not give her an annual performance evaluation, gave her no explanation for the firing and demanded that she resign within 21 hours." A spokesman for the Mayor, Matt Szabo, countered: “Gloria Jeff received numerous indications from the mayor’s office that her management of the Department......

Today, notable incidents for the LA Fire Department included mutual aid with the LA County Fire Department for a brush fire at the 14 and 5 freeway junction and a near drowning of an 8-year-old boy at a public pool off of Foothill Blvd. He was saved by lifeguards and airlifted to a hospital. A small plane crashed in Kern County with 4 adults and two children, all residents of Santa Monica. Another tornado......

Dear LAist, Lordy, lord, lord. Today I called 311 about a issue: a noise complaint about a neighbor's dog that had been barking for 2 straight hours. The 311 lady asked me my zip code than transferred me to the LAPD. The annoyed LAPD operator explained to me that the police didn't handle barking dog noise complaints. I explained that this was where the 311 operator had transferred me. The LAPD operator then transferred......

Good thing: Ed Boks of LA Animal Services declared many months ago that he would like Los Angeles to be the first city to truly reach No-Kill status. What does this mean? It means NO animals are put down because we have enough room in shelters and enough caring pet owners to adopt them. Great thing: Dogs of all breeds and all ages are being adopted by loving owners - a huge feat for LA.......

Moorpark man who owned tiger gets house arrest - Daily News What will become of San Fernando Valley's Warner Center? - Daily News High profile residential loft Downtown planned - LAT Two LA Police Commanders reassigned over May Day incidents - LAT Animal Services says fewer cats and dogs being euthanized. Just wait til it gets really hot and Sparky needs to be walked... - LAT Paris fires publicist Elliot Mintz. What the hell......

Carolyn Kellogg, previous editor of LAist, heads up Metroblogging Pittsburgh while she works on her MFA 19,215 dogs and cats were euthanized last year by the Department of Animal Services. It was a drop from the previous year, but General Manager Ed Boks is dreaming of a no-kill city Purple Line, Purple Line, Purple Line! Until the Purple Line takes us from 3rd St. Promenade to LACMA in 14 whole minutes, maybe this site will......

True Football David Beckham to join the Los Angeles soccer scene? Vote Tomorrow There's some confusion over voter trouble tomorrow. CBS2 helps you prepare. Over at City Hall Zuma Dogg over at Mayor Sam is following the medical marijuana dispensary story. The City disses their own Godfather of blogging. The City also disses the killing of animals for a weekend: In an demonstration of commitment to lifesaving for the homeless animals of Los Angeles,......

sign of the times - Long time Los Angeles signmaker Wayne Heath has died at age 87. Among his innovative, glorious creations are the Felix Chevrolet sign at Figueroa and Jefferson and the signage at the Flamingo Hilton in Las Vegas. deadly OC crash - Steve Ambriz, a councilman in the city of Orange, was killed yesterday when an out-of-control pickup smashed into his Toyota Camry. in the wrong place - Two animal activists......

fair and balanced? The new White House press secretary will be Tony Snow, direct from Fox News. What next, Bill O'Reilly for Secretary of State? getting in Eric McCarty, a 25-year old San Diego man has been charged with hacking into USC's admissions database last year; the database contained 270,000 applications that included personal information and Social Security numbers. In an e-mail to a reporter where he took credit for the hack, McCarty wrote,......

Just like Reservoir Dogs, the MTA is running out of colors. So far there is no Pink Line, but a possible Aqua Line has people wondering about the color-coding system. We suggest Chartreuse, Fuchsia, and Burnt Sienna. The Union Rescue Mission has captured an obvious skid row "dumping" incident on video: a taxi pulled up near its door and released a 63-year-old woman in a hospital gown and slippers. When she wandered into the......

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,......

As we shook the cobwebs out this morning, LAist heard something on Today in LA about this being the start of a local pet adoption week but now we can't seem to find anything online with the specifics. LA Animal Services has nothing on their oddly designed site and no news articles or press releases have popped up. From what we can remember, though, it is $37 to adopt a dog or $32 to......

As all the blogs are reporting today, Jessica Garrison's 1/10/05 Los Angeles Times piece, "Hahn Rivals Court Pet Lovers" informs us that the mayor's challengers sought animal advocates' endorsement last Sunday at the Citizens for Humane Los Angeles mayoral convention. Some see it as evidence of the activists' increasing political clout. Garrison wrote, "In a sign of the growing political influence that animal advocates wield in Los Angeles, the top challengers to Mayor James......