Staycee Dains found herself confronted with significant challenges just a month into her role as the general manager overseeing Los Angeles city animal shelters.
An incident illustrating the friction within the department occurred when an employee openly defied Dains by spraying a dog in the face with a hose, after being asked to clean a kennel.
Dains believed the employee should face termination for this act, but was informed by the city’s personnel department that a mere five days of leave would suffice.
Having been appointed by Mayor Karen Bass in June 2023, Dains was set in place to fulfill a promise made by the mayor to transform L.A. into a leading example of animal welfare.
The shelters, plagued by overcrowding and filth, were under intense scrutiny, with reports of animals sometimes being neglected without food or water.
In an interview, Dains voiced her feelings of helplessness in addressing longstanding issues such as severe understaffing and employee misconduct toward the animals.
She cited repeated interactions with the personnel department, which advised her against terminating underperforming employees, and mentioned her discord with a union representing shelter workers.
In a desperate measure to amplify her concerns, Dains reached out to L.A. County prosecutors for support.
Yet, the situation in the shelters continued to deteriorate; during her tenure, the number of dogs and cats euthanized surpassed those of previous years.
Dains declared, “We need to tell the unfiltered, unvarnished truth about what is happening in the shelters.”
In August, just over a year into her role as Animal Services general manager, Dains was placed on paid leave, with an advisor from Bass informing her she could resign by November 30.
Zach Seidl, a spokesperson for Mayor Bass, contested Dains’ claims, characterizing many of her statements as misleading or inaccurate.
Throughout her interviews with the press, Dains stressed a shortage of funding to adequately cater to the basic needs of animals in the six shelters under her supervision.
During the mayor’s initial year in office, in response to criticism regarding shelter conditions, she proposed an 18% budget increase, which fell significantly short of the 56% increase requested by the Animal Services department.
The following fiscal year saw a slight reduction in the budget allocated to the department.
Amid fiscal challenges, last week, the City Council approved a budget that avoided severe cuts to Animal Services.
Having previously held prestigious shelter positions in San José and Long Beach, Dains noted the deep desensitization of employees toward animal suffering, witnessed day after day.
She pointed out the alarming understaffing levels, with only three staff members responsible for the care of 500 dogs, encompassing tasks from cleaning kennels to managing adoptions and medical duties.
Dains expressed deep distress over the plight of the animals, stating, “I couldn’t sleep knowing that animals were just in those hellholes suffering.”
At the heart of the issues, Dains alleged that some employees engaged in abusive practices, claiming to have observed staff terrorizing dogs by banging on their kennels or using water to control them.
Despite Dains’ directives to cease such behaviors, some staff members claimed they had been trained to treat the animals in that manner.
To enhance accountability, Dains proposed a tracking schedule to monitor task completion in feeding and cleaning enclosures.
However, opposition arose from a union representative who feared that the data might be used to penalize employees.
Ultimately, Dains was compelled to abandon her proposal due to union resistance from Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 300, whose representative declined to comment on the allegations.
Dains noted that interpersonal conflicts and gossip among employees complicated efforts to ensure accountability.
She alleged that some supervisors were involved in inappropriate relationships with their subordinates, which led to overlooked performance issues.
Additionally, she suspected some employees were abusing their night shifts, instead of performing their duties, and showed The Times a photo depicting dog beds arranged in a staff room as a makeshift sleeping area.
She also recounted witnessing employees using their phones to watch videos instead of fulfilling work obligations and neglecting the needs of potential adopters by ignoring them.
Conversely, Dains praised other staff members for their dedication, stating, “There’s a significant portion of staff that just aren’t doing their jobs.”
She attributed some of the accountability issues to supervisors who failed to enforce performance standards.
When Dains attempted to implement disciplinary actions against some supervisors, she faced significant pushback from the union.
In one instance, after placing a supervisor on leave over bullying accusations, Local 300 filed a grievance against her.
The personnel department declined to comment on Dains’ allegations.
Bruce Whidden, a spokesperson for the department, referred to a city law allowing general managers to suspend or discharge civil service employees for cause, clarifying that the personnel department merely provides HR support in line with due process principles.
Dains acknowledged that she could have been more assertive with her assistant general managers but felt the need to maintain positive working relationships.
She reflected, “It is a tricky thing to do to start writing up executive-level managers that you are trying to work with.”
Moreover, a shelter employee, who chose to remain anonymous due to a lack of authorization to speak with the media, corroborated Dains’ concerns.
The employee remarked, “There’s no accountability, there’s no repercussions. And the staff who do work have to work twice as hard.”
A report from Best Friends Animal Society released last year scrutinized the deplorable conditions inside the shelters, portraying Dains as the “biggest barrier” to necessary improvements.
The report highlighted a lack of written protocols in the shelters and noted that the euthanasia policy had undergone five changes in one year without proper communication about those adjustments.
An analysis conducted by The Times revealed a staggering 72% increase in dog euthanizations in city shelters from January to September last year, compared to the same timeframe the previous year.
While the population of dogs entering the shelters had steadily grown since 2022, the euthanasia rate escalated considerably faster.
The overcrowded conditions exacerbated stress among the animals, leading to behavioral issues and emotional suffering, as noted in the Best Friends report.
This cycle of despair rendered the animals less adoptable, ultimately increasing their likelihood of euthanasia.
Defending her euthanasia decisions, Dains stated that it was not safe to warehouse animals in kennels for extended periods “for the safety of the animals, staff, volunteers, and the public.”
She added that when she assumed her role, there was no established euthanasia policy and that efforts to develop one were ongoing during her management.
Though Bass was Dains’ direct superior, Dains remarked that her primary contact was Jacqueline Hamilton, the deputy mayor for neighborhood services.
Despite frequent discussions about personnel and operational issues, Dains felt she did not receive the assistance needed to enact change, alleging a reluctance from Hamilton to address the poor conditions publicly.
Dains summarized her experience with frustration, stating, “I am not getting any movement or traction.”
In response to Dains’ assertions, Seidl maintained that she was provided the support necessary for success, including assistance in communicating departmental statuses to key stakeholders.
Dains also recounted reaching out to Deputy District Attorney Kimberly Abourezk, who handled animal cruelty cases, requesting a letter be sent to the mayor concerning the dismal conditions in the shelters.
However, according to the district attorney’s office, Abourezk did not send the letter as her visit to the shelters yielded no evidence of any criminal activity.
The spokesperson added, “The office is not in a position to tell another agency how to operate their facility.”
Amidst all these issues, it remains clear that the path toward improvement in Los Angeles animal shelters is fraught with challenges, both systemic and individual, indicating the need for transformative changes in management practices and organizational accountability.
image source from：https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-05-30/she-ran-the-l-a-animal-shelters-why-couldnt-she-fix-the-problems
