LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A city council committee Wednesday approved the nomination of Staycee Dains to be the new head of the Los Angeles Animal Services department, which has had a vacancy in leadership since April 2021.
The Neighborhoods and Community Enrichment Committee voted 2-0, with Councilwoman Heather Hutt absent from Wednesday's meeting, to recommend the appointment of Dains, currently the director of Long Beach Animal Care Services.
Dains was nominated by L.A. Mayor Karen Bass on June 1. The nomination next heads to the full City Council for consideration.
"Undoubtedly, you will want to hear what I will do to improve L.A. and the truth is that I won't make improvements alone," Dains said. "No one person can. What I will do as the general manager is provide transparency, expertise, support in leadership at all levels of our organization.
"I will deeply invest in our staff and our volunteers. So that they too can continue to grow in this work. I will always strive to be worthy of the responsibilities of this position," she added.
Councilman John Lee, who sits on the committee, outlined some of the challenges the department faces, including chronic pet overpopulation, the aforementioned staffing issues and increased owner surrenders exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
Dains said she was "very confident" in her experience as a shelter operations director and leading animal services for the city of Long Beach. Officials with the mayor's office said Dains has more than 20 years of experience as a leader in animal welfare, and has successfully increased adoption rates and lifesaving rates "everywhere she has gone."
During her years in Long Beach, Dains led the development of the department's "Compassion Saves" operating model -- intended to reduce euthanasia and increase pet adoption rates through various programs.
LBACS reached its highest adoption rate ever in 2022, placing 1,968 pets into homes and increasing placement of animals by 194% since 2018, according to Long Beach officials.
Dains also developed and implemented programs that improved staff and volunteer morale and involvement, according to Bass' office.
"I am confident that she will establish a clear and shared vision guided by industry standards and best practices to continue developing L.A. Animal Services into a 21st Century model for humane and successful animal care and resident services," Bass said in a statement.
Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez, who chairs the Neighborhoods and Community Enrichment Committee, asked Dains to discuss her plans to prevent more animals from coming into the shelters and explain how she would maximize the department's budget.
Dains said it is "far less expensive and costly to the taxpayer to help a person who has an animal issue before that animal comes to the shelter."
In terms of spending, Dains said it was "time for us to reevaluate the operation and look at reorganization -- to really see if what we're doing is meeting the needs of not just our organization but the community."
If confirmed by the full council, Dains would replace Annette Ramirez, who has been serving as LAAS' interim general manager after the retirement of former LAAS General Manager Brenda Barnette.
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