Head of troubled L.A. Animal Services steps down amid high euthanasia rates, overcrowding

The head of the L.A. city agency overseeing animal shelters is stepping down, according to an city email sent Monday to shelter volunteers and animal advocates.

Staycee Dains resigned effective November 30, assistant general manager Annette Ramirez wrote in the email, which was viewed by The Times. Ramirez wrote that she had been appointed interim general manager by Mayor Karen Bass.

Dains, who earned about $272,730, did not immediately respond to an email and phone message.

She had been on paid leave since August. Officials had declined to explain why she took a leave, leading to uncertainty about the agency’s leadership.

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Mayor Bass said she’d save L.A.’s shelter animals. More dogs and cats are dying

From January to September, 1,224 dogs were euthanized at L.A.’s six shelters — 72% more than in the same period a year earlier, a Times analysis found.

Nov. 22, 2024

Bass, when asked about Dains’ future in October, declined to tell The Times whether she was looking for a new general manager. Bass added that Ramirez, who was tasked with leading the agency during Dain’s absence, was “performing absolutely fine.”

Bass announced Dains’ hiring in June 2023, touting her arrival as part of the mayor’s effort to turn around Animal Services, which faces chronic problems including overcrowding and staff shortages. Agnes Sibal, a spokesperson for L.A. Animal Services, said earlier this year that the crowding had reached crisis levels with “nowhere to house incoming dogs.”

During her tenure, Dains helped speed up the approval of new volunteers, who help care for the animals.

At the same time, she faced criticism as more dogs and cats were put down by the city. From January to September, 1,224 dogs were euthanized at the city’s six shelters — a 72% increase compared with the same period a year ago, according to a Times analysis.

About 1,517 cats were euthanized through September— a 17% increase from a year ago.

In overcrowded shelters, dogs can go weeks without a walk and may live in feces-covered kennels, and some animals start behaving poorly and suffer “mental and emotional breakdown,” according to a report by Best Friends Animal Society, a rescue group that has long worked with the city shelters.

Animal welfare consultant Kristen Hassen, whose firm was recently hired to assess the shelters, has described the higher euthanasia rates among dogs as an “over-correction” by the department.

Dains previously worked as director of Animal Care Services in Long Beach and as shelter operations manager at San Jose’s Animal Care and Services, according to her resume.