Yesterday Dr Gary Michelson penned an Op-Ed piece in a small local online site called Westside Current, see link below. In the Op-Ed he attacks the City of Los Angeles and LA Mayor Karen Bass blaming them for not reducing pet overpopulation because they only increased the Animal Services Department's budget by 1.6%. Below is that Op-Ed.
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Michelson claims the problem is that the city isn't providing enough money for spay neuter funding. He claims "The cause is fixable and well understood." If it were so easy, why wasn't he able to solve the problem himself as he promised 21 years ago? He goes on to say "I have spent the past two decades working to expand access, directing more than $15 million toward spay and neuter services in Los Angeles and investing over $31 million in the search for a safe, nonsurgical sterilant for cats."
Michelson stated not providing enough funds for spay neuter caused the following. "Over the past six years, the City’s animal-related liability payouts increased 65-fold to over $7 million in 2025. Sanitation costs are in the millions and rising, with 31,000 dead animal pickups last year." The animal related liability payouts had to do with dog bites of employees in the shelter. The dead animals picked up include wildlife, indoor kept pets who died indoors, small farm animals and owned free roaming pets. They are not all the direct result of less spay neuter funding.
Michelson stated "the City continues to increase funding elsewhere, including a $160 million investment in policing in this year’s proposed budget." He should know by now that the City responds to the desires of the citizens who stated they care more about more police officers than a larger budget for Animal Services. The City responded to a city wide poll. It's not really up to the City or Mayor.
At the end of the Op-Ed is a pdf chart of LA Animal Services statistics for the last two years, see link below. The chart shows intake is up 1% and live outcome is down 5%. It shows more spay neuter coupons issued but fewer redeemed. The Department has the same problems it's had for years and a few new ones. Mayor Bass isn't responsible for the actions of previous Mayors and GMs of Animal Services over the last 20 years. Dr Gary Michelson knows about all these issues and said he would solve the problem once and for all back in 2005. He's now complaining that the City didn't solve the problem he said he could and would easily solve.
I follow the Department closely and realize it's a huge problem to solve. I actually agree with most of what Michelson said in his Op-Ed about the many problems facing the Department of Animal Services and the City. It's just rich to see him complaining and blaming the City today for something he said he could easily fix back in 2005. These problems are sadly never as easy as some people believe.
