The Vegan Collection - Blog » LAAS

Shelter Animal Toy Drive Recap

Kevin — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:36:41 +0000

This past Saturday we had the opportunity to distribute the items that we had collected at last December’s vegan drinks. A few fabulous people gave up their Saturday afternoon to join us giving in out a huge pile of toys, treat, blankets, food and beds to animals at LA Animal Services’ North Central shelter. We want to thank everyone who showed up (or attempted to show up)! We had a great time and could tell that it made the day a little bit brighter for the animals waiting for new forever homes. You can check out a few photos from the event below:

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A Great Day For Animals! Ed Boks Resigns

Kevin — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 23:10:06 +0000

LA Times is reporting that LA Animal Services’ manager Ed Boks has resigned as of today. It’s been long overdue. Speculation is that it is in response to this:

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa hired Ed Boks the Director of Animal Services without checking out his references. He did not know that Boks had just been sued for racial discrimination and unlawful termination a month before he hired him. When the City was apprised of the lawsuit in January 2006, Boks told the Mayor that the lawsuit “had no merit.” Antonio did not investigate and took him at his word. Judge Kimba Wood in New York has ruled otherwise.

In an opinion and order dated March 27, 2009 Judge Wood stated that “Viewing the available evidence as a whole, the Court finds that a reasonable jury could conclude that Defendants terminated Plaintiff because of his race.” Since the judge’s ruling the City of New York has decided to settle with the plaintiff Wesley Artope. The exact amount is unknown at this time.

How I love gossip. Goodbye Ed, you won’t be missed.

Links: LA Times, Cleveland Indy Media Center

How’s This For Irony

Kevin — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 19:01:47 +0000

After preaching constantly on this site about the new Spay/Neuter Law and how the swift fist of justice should reign down upon anyone who disobeys, that fist of justice just reigned down on me. When I got home yesterday I had a “yellow tag” stating that we had a $200 fine due to unaltered dog licensing fees. Both our dogs came from the pound, both were licensed, and both were neutered before we got them. A quick call to Los Angeles Animal Services had it straightened out and apparently they had made a mistake and we actually owe $15 for one license that is up in late December. Apparently they are going door to door to collect pet licensing fees in Los Angeles. I guess you have to make up for all these California budget shortfalls somehow.

Snip, Snip: Spay and Neuter in LA

Kevin — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 18:15:29 +0000

After a six month grace period, the new Spay and Neuter Law goes into effect in the city of Los Angeles today. It requires most dogs and cats to be spayed or neutered by the time they are 4 months old. First-time offenders will receive information on subsidized sterilization services and be given an additional 60 days to sterilize their pets. If they still fail to comply after 60 days, they could be fined $100 and ordered to serve eight hours of community service. A subsequent offense could result in a maximum fine of $500 fine or 40 hours of community service. Though if it gets to that point, I think it should be mandatory sterilization for both pet and owner.

The biggest obstacle that I’ve heard about the new law is that it’s going to be difficult to enforce. Los Angeles Animal Services head honcho Ed Boks estimates that it will cost over $400,000 to implement the ordinance and on an already tight budget, LAAS is going to rely on “voluntary compliance” instead of actively go after violators. Coming from the same city that proposed adding more street cleaning as a revenue stream so they can catch more parking violators, they should use the same thinking with this new law. Just hire a few extra ATC officers, send them out there with a quota, and make sure they bring in double their salary in fines. Problem solved. Take that Villaraigosa.

On a related note, the owner of Neuticals just started shopping for a new Porsche.