COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES
ATTACHMENT A
DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL CARE AND CONTROL
DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES
I. Animal Care Services
The County of Los Angeles Department of Animal Care and Control (Department) maintains seven animal care centers that accept stray, lost, abandoned, and relinquished animals. The Department also receives and maintains animals that are victims of abuse or neglect, under a quarantine order, or that pose a risk to the public. Stray or lost animals are held for an initial period to give an owner the opportunity to reclaim them. Ownerrelinquished animals are held for an initial period prior to euthanasia or adoption to a new home, pursuant to State law. The holding period may vary and may be extended in an attempt to reunite the animal with an identified owner or for other reasons.
The Department is dedicated to providing appropriate and safe housing to all animals accepted into the Department’s care. The Department is required by law to provide a safe environment with proper food, water, shelter, opportunity for exercise, and medical care for the animals it houses. Medical care may be provided by Department staff or, at the Department’s sole discretion, outsourced to a contracted veterinarian.
As requested by the City in Attachment B, Service Level Request, the Department will provide the City with either: Full Care Center Services; Animal Care for Transfer only; or No Care Center Services.
A. Full Care Center Services
All animals collected in the field within the boundaries of the City or determined to have originated from within the boundaries of the City may be housed at a County animal care center. Admitted animals will be vaccinated and provided medical care, food, water, and shelter. The Department may post an animal’s picture on the Department’s website to assist residents in reclaiming a lost or missing pet or finding a new one. Residents may also visit the associated animal care center to find their lost or missing pet. The hours of operation of each animal care center may be found on the Department's website.
The Department will make reasonable attempts to house animals from the City at the animal care center closest to the City. The nearest animal care center to the City will be designated as the primary animal care center. There may be circumstances in which the Department will house animals collected from the City at an alternate location.
Full Animal Care Center services include:
• Providing food, water, shelter, enrichment, and medical care for animals in the Department’s care;
• Holding stray animals and attempting to reunite them with their owners; • Accepting unwanted animals surrendered by their owners; • Making best efforts to find new adoptive homes for domestic animals and livestock;
• Quarantine and observation of animals for rabies and other diseases at the direction of the Department of Public Health;
• Working with wildlife rehabilitators to rescue sick and injured wildlife; • Providing emergency care and housing to pets and livestock displaced by wildfires or other disasters;
• Holding animals that are the subject of criminal investigations or other legal or administrative proceedings;
• Spay and neuter services for dogs and cats pursuant to State law; • Medical treatment and surgeries to make animals more adoptable; • Euthanizing sick, injured, dangerous, unweaned, feral, or un-adoptable animals;
• Public services, including prevention of animal abuse, neglect, or abandonment through outreach and education, and intervention through finding alternatives to relinquishment and assisting at-risk populations; • Filing annual reports to the State of California as required by law; • Disposal of dead animals;
• Maintaining a website with pictures of stray and surrendered animals to facilitate reuniting the animals with their owners or finding new adoptive homes;
• Connecting pet owners to services to increase owner retention of pets; and • Maintaining regular hours of operation for the public.
B. Animal Care for Transfer
If the City has opted for Animal Care for Transfer services in Attachment B, the Department will provide temporary housing until the City has transported the animal(s) to another animal care facility. Services will be the same as described for Full Shelter Service above. The Department will only release animals to be transported to an animal care facility approved in advance by the Department and documented in Attachment B. The Department will only release an animal to persons capable of transferring an animal safely in a vehicle appropriate for the humane transfer of the animal. The City will be responsible for all costs of the temporary care and housing at the Department’s animal care center, as well as the subsequent costs of transportation, care, and housing at the animal care location of the City’s choice. The Department may refuse to release an animal for transport if, in the reasonable assessment of the Department, the vehicle in which the City desires the animal(s) to be transported poses an unacceptable risk of harm to the animal(s) or others, or if the animal is
ill or injured to the extent that transportation would cause further injury or suffering.
The Department will not provide transportation from the field or from a County animal care center to any alternate animal care location, except as necessary for the needs of the County. If necessary, the Department may transport an animal(s) to an alternative animal care location of the City’s choice and the City will be responsible for the cost of such transport at the current billing rate for field service staff.
The City will be responsible for all costs for the admission, care, and housing at the Department's animal care center, as well as the subsequent costs of care and housing at any animal care facility of the City's choice. The City's designated animal care center location is listed in Attachment B, Service Level Request.
II. Field Services
The County will provide the services set forth below in accordance with the provisions of the Los Angeles County Code, Title 10, “Animals,” and all future amendments, except as otherwise agreed to by the Parties in Attachment B, Service Level Request.
A request by the City for the Department to enforce Los Angeles County Code, Title 10, Chapter 37, will authorize the Department to provide an administrative hearing process to accomplish the enforcement when applicable.
In order to harmonize the terms of this Agreement with the provisions of the City’s municipal code, the City must adopt Title 10 “Animals” of the Los Angeles County Code (“Title 10”). The City may adopt or opt out of provisions of Title 10 only as agreed to by the Department. The City is encouraged, but not required to, adopt Title 10 in such a way as to incorporate all future amendments.
The Department will inform the City of any proposed changes to Title 10 with as much advance notice as practical, with the intention to provide the City with an opportunity to submit input to the Department and the County related to the proposed changes. The Department will notify the City of the passage of any change to Title 10 by the County Board of Supervisors as soon as practical. The Department will inform the City whether the City may adopt or opt out of the changes to Title 10.
Description of Field Services
The Department will provide sufficient resources and services for animal control field services. Services consist of Department personnel performing a variety of tasks utilizing appropriate equipment. These tasks include:
• Promptly responding to reports of vicious and dangerous animals that pose a threat to public safety;
• Capturing, reuniting, and admitting stray domestic animals; • Capturing and impounding or returning domestic animals at large; • Accepting and caring for animals surrendered by their owners; • Removal of dead land animals (limited to a maximum of 150 pounds) from public and private property as set forth in Section 10.12.130 of the County Code; • Educating the public and enforcing State laws and local ordinances, including leash laws, animal cruelty laws, and the laws relating to keeping wild or exotic animals;
• Investigating cases for possible criminal prosecution, including misdemeanor and felony crimes; issuing citations; collecting evidence; preparing reports; testifying in court and other hearings;
• Investigating appropriate cases for potential administrative actions pertaining to animals; preparing appropriate documentation to pursue administrative declarations; conducting administrative hearings, consistent with state and County laws; and defending declarations that are challenged in court; • Rescuing ill, injured, or abused animals;
• Enforcing animal nuisance complaints such as excessive animal noise and other violations; issuing administrative or criminal citations as appropriate; • Assisting local law enforcement with their investigations when animals are involved, such as the service of search warrants and impounding animals as evidence or when necessary for those belonging to persons taken into custody; • Responding to emergencies such as fires, earthquakes, floods, and other natural or manmade disasters to rescue and temporarily house animals, or to provide care for animals in evacuation zones;
• Maintain a 24-hour dispatch and communications center to receive calls for service and dispatch staff for field response as appropriate; and • Maintaining records in accordance with applicable laws and policies.
A. Standard Service Plan
The Standard Service Plan includes answering calls for service 24 hours per day, seven days per week, dispatching or assigning field staff, and performing duties in the field based on priority, location, and availability of staff. Services provided under the Standard Service Plan are similar to those services the Department provides to unincorporated communities in Los Angeles County.
B. Limited Service Plan
The Limited Service Plan includes standard services on a part-time basis during days and hours specified in the Service Level Request. Billing rates are described in Attachment C, City-County Municipal Services Billing Rates.
III. Alternatives to Care Center Admissions
The Department's “Alternatives to Care Center Admissions” services are activities that go beyond providing housing for dogs and cats, and have the effect of keeping pets out of care centers and in homes and healthy environments. This includes staff counseling pet owners or connecting them with resources such as free pet food and supplies, medical vouchers, temporary housing, access to a medical helpline, and other critical resources all intended to help keep pets with their families. The Department also offers a variety of pet assistance programs, known collectively as the Pets Are Family (PAF) program, which is funded almost entirely through donations and grants received by the Department. A summary of the programs offered under PAF can be found on our website (https://animalcare.lacounty.gov/dacc-support-services).
As a result of these efforts, the number of dogs and cats admitted into Department animal care centers has decreased dramatically due to the Department reducing preventable pet surrenders. These programs are only available to cities that opt into Full Care Center Services and are charged at a flat per capita rate as indicated in Attachment C, CityCounty Municipal Services Billing Rates.
Managed Intake
Managed Intake (MI) is a strategy that allows agencies to manage and reduce the flow of both owned pets and homeless animals into their care, which is accomplished by partnering with the community and providing resources and solutions. Through the Department’s intervention services, pet owners receive support in the form of consultation, financial resources, and referrals — both medical and behavioral — to assist them with their pet-related issues. MI has reduced the number of surrendered animals admitted to the Department’s care centers to those who have no other opportunity for rehoming. This is reducing the costs for cities that are associated with sheltering cats and dogs.
Components of Managed Intake:
• Community Engagement is key to successfully employing Managed Intake, giving the community an opportunity to foster, network animals, facilitate adoptions, and to develop solutions to keep pets with their owners.
• The Department encourages people who have found stray animals to attempt to reunite the pets with their families. The Department also encourages residents to
allow free roaming cats to remain where they live, as these are often pets or community cats.
• To reduce the relinquishment of owned pets, the Department will provide resources such as training, food, and supplies, or other support to help keep pets in their homes.
• Public safety and animal welfare are a priority. Animals that pose a safety threat will immediately and safely be admitted by the Department, as will animals that are sick or injured.
IV. Individual Animal Licensing Services
Adult dogs four months of age and older are required by State law to have individual licenses. The City may request that the Department enforce licensing requirements in the City for dogs, cats, or other animals as described in Attachment B. The City may adopt the County’s fees for individual animal licenses or set its own fees as permitted in Attachment B.
License renewal notices are mailed or transmitted by the Department to the animal owner of record. The renewal and payment are received and processed on a fee-per-license basis. Pet owners may opt into a one- or three-year license option for their pets. A current license will be required before an animal will be released to a resident of the City.
Fees from one- and three-year licenses collected will be credited to the City monthly in arrears.
The Department’s animal licensing services include:
• Issuing animal licenses for pets as requested by the City; • Processing license applications, payments, and information changes; • Issuing license renewal notices;
• Assessing and collecting fees, penalties, and other financial remittances; • Maintaining a database for animal licensing, records of calls for service, and actions taken; and
• Maintaining the Rabies Vaccination Certificate tool database which scans rabies vaccination data reported by private veterinary clinics to identify unlicensed pets in our jurisdictions and generate compliance notices to pet owners.
V. Additional Outreach and Enforcement Services Options The City may request that the Department provide additional services as outlined below.
A. Animal License Enforcement Services
License Enforcement Services provides staff to perform individual animal license
enforcement in designated areas within the City. This program includes:
• Issuing new licenses and renewing expired licenses;
• Issuing citations to violators of animal licensing ordinances; • Collecting license revenue, delinquency charges, and authorized fees; and • Recording licensing data in the Department's database.
B. Animal Facility Licensing
The Department's Animal Facility Licensing program provides staff to perform animal facility inspections and licensing to animal-related businesses or organizations that require a license under Title 10 of the County Code. Animal-related facilities are inspected annually to ensure the safety and well-being of the animals as well as the health and safety of the public. Licensees are provided a letter grade based on the results of the inspection.
The Department retains facility license fees to offset the cost of annual inspections and related administrative costs. Staff time for licensing and inspections is not billed to the City. Investigations in response to complaints about activities at a licensed location are conducted by field officers based in the Department's animal care centers and are billed in accordance with Attachment C, City-County Municipal Services Billing Rates.
This program includes:
• Annual inspection of any premise used by an animal-related business or nonprofit organization, including grooming shops, pet shops, boarding facilities or breeding facilities, animal menageries, and all other places where animals are maintained for profit or business activities;
• Issuing grades to animal facilities consistent with the requirements of Section
10.28.270 of the County Code;
• Follow-up inspections of animal facilities as necessary; • Collection of license fees to offset the cost of services; and • Documentation and maintenance of records as necessary.
C. Vaccination and Microchip Clinics
California Health and Safety Code Section 121690(f) states that every city and county, "shall provide dog vaccination clinics, or arrange for dog vaccination at clinics." The Department holds periodic low-cost rabies vaccination and microchip clinics at its animal care centers. If the City chooses additional rabies vaccination and microchip clinics, the following services are offered:
• Providing or assisting in arranging for low-cost vaccinations and microchips; • Staffing low-cost vaccination and microchip clinics with medical personnel and necessary support staff, subject to availability;
• Licensing animals vaccinated at the clinic; and
• Assisting jurisdictions in promoting these community-based clinics.
D. Spay/Neuter Trust Fund
The City may elect to contribute $5.00 per altered and unaltered dog license to the Spay/Neuter Trust Fund. Participation in the Spay/Neuter Trust Fund allows the Department to offer a low-cost or free spay/neuter program for the City’s residents who wish to have their pets spayed or neutered. The Department staff will work with animal care center veterinary clinics and mobile veterinary clinics to assist qualified residents in obtaining spay/neuter services in an area near them.
VI. Records
Upon reasonable notice, the Department will make available to authorized representatives of the City, for examination, audit, excerpt, copy, or transcription, any pertinent transaction, activity, or other record relating to the Agreement. The City must ensure such records are handled in a manner consistent with all applicable privacy laws and all laws related to the Public Records Act (Government Code sections 7920.000 et. seq.).
Upon request, the following standard reports are available from the Department on a monthly basis:
1. Dogs and/or Cats Impounded
2. Animals Returned to Owners
3. Dogs and/or Cats Abandoned
4. Special Admission Dog & Cat
5. Other Animals Impounded
6. Quarantined Dogs and/or Cats
7. Special Admission Other Animals
8. Private Veterinarian (Outside Medical Expense)
9. Dead Animal Pick Up Requests
10.Types of Calls for Service
11. Location of Admission
12. Public Hours performed at a specific Animal Care Center
In accordance with Section 4.7 of the Services Agreement, the Department will provide up to 12 hours of staff time annually for producing special reports to the City at no cost.
Additional staff time will be charged to the City at the current reimbursement rate for applicable staff time.