Head of L.A. Animal Services steps down amid understaffing, high euthanasia rates
After a tumultuous stint characterized by issues including shelter overcrowding and high euthanasia rates, Staycee Dains, the general manager of Los Angeles Animal Services, has stepped down. The city’s animal services department is one of the largest of its type in the country, serving about 60,000 animals every year. Staff, volunteers and partners were notified [...]
After a tumultuous stint characterized by issues including shelter overcrowding and high euthanasia rates, Staycee Dains, the general manager of Los Angeles Animal Services, has stepped down.
The city’s animal services department is one of the largest of its type in the country, serving about 60,000 animals every year.
Staff, volunteers and partners were notified of Dains’ departure in an email sent out on Monday that stated her resignation was effective Nov. 30. According to the Los Angeles Times, she has been on paid leave since this past August after being hired in June 2023.
In September 2023, Dains did her first on-air interview with KTLA 5’s Kacey Montoya, where she said she was appointed by L.A. Mayor Karen Bass to “fix the systemic issues that are happening” in the city’s six shelters but did note she inherited an understaffed agency.
In a follow-up interview the next March, Montoya found there were more volunteers, but some said they were confused under Dains’ leadership, including one incident where a letter was sent to thousands of volunteers claiming that dogs would be placed into categories, classifying some as dangerous and giving them days to live.
An email from Dains sent later that same day debunked the letter, firmly stating that LAAS would “not euthanize healthy and friendly animals, ever.”
Animal shelters in Los Angeles are facing a crisis from overcrowding as animals remain stuck in cramped conditions while waiting to be adopted. (KTLA) 
Animal shelters in Los Angeles are facing a crisis from overcrowding as animals remain stuck in cramped conditions while waiting to be adopted. (KTLA) 
Animal shelters in Los Angeles are facing a crisis from overcrowding as animals remain stuck in cramped conditions while waiting to be adopted. (KTLA) 
Animal shelters in Los Angeles are facing a crisis from overcrowding as animals remain stuck in cramped conditions while waiting to be adopted. (KTLA) 
Animal shelters in Los Angeles are facing a crisis from overcrowding as animals remain stuck in cramped conditions while waiting to be adopted. (KTLA) 
Animal shelters in Los Angeles are facing a crisis from overcrowding as animals remain stuck in cramped conditions while waiting to be adopted. (KTLA)
A temporary moratorium on dog breeding permits was passed by the city council in April 2024 amid shelter overcrowding, but shelter data last updated in late October indicates that more than 72,000 animals have been euthanized this year, the second most common outcome of a shelter animal after being adopted.
The overflow of animals is exacerbated by the lack of workers to take care of them; Brittany Thorn, a member of the Best Friends Animal Society, an organization that works closely with city shelters, told KTLA on Tuesday that overcrowding has been an issue in city shelters for “a long time.”
“In the last year, [overcrowding] has gotten a lot worse,” Thorn said. “Animals are coming in every day and there are not appropriate staffing levels at these shelters to get the animals out.”
In the wake of Dains’ departure, Assistant General Manager Annette Ramirez will serve as the agency’s interim GM.
Ramirez, who was tasked with leading LAAS since Dains took a leave of absence, has been “performing absolutely fine” in the role, Bass told the L.A. Times.
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