Bass names new head of troubled Animal Services department

Dakota Smith
·3 min read
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SOUTH LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 16, 2022 - - A pair of dogs are available for adoption or foster care at the Chesterfield Square Animal Services Center in South Los Angeles on July 16 2022. A worker at the facility said that these dogs had to double-up in one pen due to lack of space at the facility. Two L.A. City Council members called for more resources for the city's struggling animal shelters about crowded kennels, shelter dogs that go for weeks without walks and staffing shortages. An emergency hearing at City Hall is scheduled for next Tuesday on the crowded state of the city's animal shelters. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
A pair of dogs at the Chesterfield Square Animal Services Center in South Los Angeles in 2022. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Thursday announced the hiring of a new general manager to lead the city's Animal Services department, which is under scrutiny for its staffing shortages, crowded conditions for animals and clashes between volunteers and staff.

Bass picked Staycee Dains, director of Animal Care Services for the city of Long Beach. Dains' appointment requires confirmation by the City Council.

Dains joined the Long Beach department in 2019. She also worked for a decade as shelter operations manager at San Jose's Animal Care and Services, according to her resume.

In announcing the appointment, Bass said Dains will "bring strong leadership and a true passion for animal welfare to L.A. Animal Services."

"I know that Animal Services is challenging and I know Los Angeles is facing their own unique set of challenges," Dains said in an interview. "But I'm absolutely confident that I'll be successful because of my decades of experience in this field."

Animal Services has been without a permanent general manager since February 2022, when then-General Manager Dana Brown left the department. Interim General Manager Annette Ramirez has since served in the role.

A small group of animal advocates upset about conditions at the city's animal shelters held a rally in March outside the city's West L.A. shelter to demand Bass pick someone to helm the troubled department.

The Times has chronicled poor conditions at shelters, including a lack of dogwalking and inadequate food supplies for small animals. Two recent reports — one by former City Councilmember Paul Koretz, the other from City Controller Kenneth Mejia — detailed long-standing issues, including friction between staff and the volunteers that the department relies on to care for the animals.

Asked about such problems, Dains said that part of her job would be "relationship management."

"Connection is really, really important to me, so making sure that I am talking with people, meeting with people and really hearing and understanding what the challenges are — that's a critical piece of moving forward," Dains said.

Independent journalist Daniel Guss recently reported that Larry Gross, president of the Board of Animal Services Commissioners, sent an email to the mayor's team in March suggesting Dains for the job.

Gross, in a call Thursday, confirmed the email but said that he doesn't recall having further communications about Dains with the mayor's office. He said everything he has heard about Dains has been "incredibly positive."

"We think the mayor made a great choice," Gross said.

Paul Darrigo, head of animal advocacy group Citizens for a Humane Los Angeles, said that he hopes Dains "straightens out L.A. Animal Services."

"This position needs someone bold, gregarious and extroverted," Darrigo said. "The department doesn't need another bureaucrat and I hope Staycee fits the bill."

Long Beach Animal Care Services released a statement Thursday about Dains' appointment in L.A., noting Long Beach "reached its highest adoption rate ever" under Dains.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.