Presenting a special Saturday episode of A Pawdcast. In light of the crisis happening in and around our Los Angeles city shelters, and the questions so many have as to what the issues are, we wanted to sit down in real time and talk to a couple of the women who are leading the charge in making our voices heard and demanding change for a system in crisis. Please welcome Valarie Ianniello founder of Women United For Animal Welfare (WUFAW) and Shira Scott Astrof founder of the Animal Rescue Mission to the sofa. We talk about the dire overcrowding situation and why there are multiple dogs in every kennel as well as pop up crates lining the hallways and stacked on top of each other. We discuss the “No Kill” initiative, how it came to be, what exactly it means, why the false narrative is so dangerous and how it has overwhelmed the City’s shelter system. And lastly, and so very importantly, we talk about the lack of Spay / Neuter in a city where breeder licenses are being handed out “like candy”. ✨Since filming our latest episode, there have been even more disheartening updates regarding city shelters. The 3 million dollars initially promised to LAAS to hire more staff has been drastically reduced to a mere $277,048. Additionally, the city officials have now announced they are considering defunding the shelters altogether.
The idea of defunding the LAAS shelters is appalling and demonstrates a shocking disconnect between our city officials and the suffering animals in these shelters. If these cuts go through, it would further decimate an already struggling system that relies on a skeleton staff to care for these vulnerable animals. Let’s get into it.