The dogs are barking about Brenda Barnette getting the GM position for the LAAS

Brenda Barnette was chosen in a unanimous vote of 15-0 for the position of General Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services (LAAS) as the DailyNews in Los Angeles reported today. This election process has taken over a year of interviews and applications for the position. This job has seen many faces throughout the past ten years. There have been five people that have held that title and they were either voted out or they just quit. The last GM was Ed Boks and he left over a year ago due to stress from the job. Brenda Barnette has undergone more scrutiny than most people running for public office. She has tried not to spend so much time defending her position, but rather on gaining support from the community and how she can help to change things for the LAAS.

The Barbi Twins are favoring Brenda Barnette for this position by stating, “She seems to be one of those unsung hero’s. Hero’s are not always popular, but still do things for the right reasons. Brenda puts the principle of saving animals before the personality (just promoting her name), by turning shelters from death chambers into life saving ones.” They were saddened when their favorite picks for the GM position of Dr. Jen Conrad or even Laura Beth did not make it but they feel Barnette is a blessing in disguise. The Barbi Twins feel, “political people have agendas, and the community can only improve with a movement of compassion from all of us united. We cannot divide and conquer.” The animals will lose that battle. They also stated, “The main reason for high kill rates of dogs is the lack of training and cage stress. Brenda’s success came from obviously knowing that a strong volunteer program would be the main solution to helping dogs and cats. Bottom line, we believe Brenda can rise above the drama and focus on the main goal, making LA the biggest city to become NO KILL, the correct way. We are a compassionate city and now we think there may be hope.”

There are groups out there that seem to be stretching the truth and fetching for an interpretation that more so bashes Barnette and make her seem not suited for this position. Some say she has no experience with this large of a facility. Yes, last year the LAAS took in over 54,000 dogs and cats, but their adoption rate was not that great and they euthanize way too many. Barnette was the CEO for the Seattle Humane Society since 2006 which she got the adoption rate to 91.5%. Before that she was the CEO of Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation, and the Executive Director of Pets in Need and before that the Development Director at the San Francisco SPCA. Do you know what the mission statements are for each of those? It was to place as many animals as possible, to bring in any age, physical handicap or breed, and to better the lives of the animals. It was to educate the public, work with the public and get the public involved. This is no different at LAAS’s mission.

The Seattle Humane Society (SHS) is a private facility that receives it’s funding from individuals, corporations and such, but just as any government run facility they were an open door facility. From their Philosophy page on their website, “They accept any owner surrendered animals.” There has been questions as to Barnettes ability to turn around the adoption rate at the LAAS facility due to they are a true open door and accept any animal, where the SHS did accept any animal but they utilized an appointment method. This method was so the facility could ask questions about the animal to get a better idea for better options for adoptions. Yes, most dogs were taken immediately where as some cats had to wait up to two weeks due to room and availability. This is no different at any private shelter. Barnette should not be judged for her trying to make sure she could find the best “forever” home for that animal and to make sure she had the funding to support that animal until it was adopted. Many shelters fail due to taking in too many animals with not enough adoptions and they run out of money to sufficiently care for the animals.

Others have stated her affiliation with the AKC is like a crime. Yes, the AKC promotes breeding of dogs and in the animal rescue world, it is better to adopt than to buy. Everyone gets that, but the AKC is not just about breeding, Brenda Barnette serves as the Legislative Liaison for the Seattle Kennel Club, Inc. Here she monitors local laws and alerting the AKC as to legislative issues that may affect breeders or the sport. They share their experiences and expertise with government officials when needed for new laws and such. This position does not mean she should not serve to protect unwanted animals by her helping to protect dogs that already have a home. Read more about what a liaison actually doeshere. Due to her involvement in the AKC, people state she is opposed the puppy mill laws that is proposed in Seattle. They say she went on record stating she opposed it. Barnette’s statement was to KIROTV Channel 7 in Seattle. Her exact words were, “I think the whole thing is a jumble of words but it’s not, it really doesn’t get at the intent. And the intent is for anyone who has dogs whether they have a few or whether they have a lot to take care of.” Here she is simply stating that the law needs to be better written, not that she opposes it as others are stating. Some state her involvement with PetPac, since it was noted on her Facebook, is bad news as well. Go to PetPac and see they are a group just trying to make sure the government does not try to take away the rights of animal owners. Animal owners can be anyone that has a pure bred or adopted animal. Everyone has their way to interpret something but more people need to find the facts before criticizing someone and how they can perform their job.

Brenda Barnette has proven throughout her career that educating the public on animal issues, getting the community involved in the shelter, promoting adoption and animal welfare and getting with the community on different solutions that everyone can agree on is the key to her success. Her success can be measured by the adoption rate she posses which is almost 92%. We need to give Brenda Barnette the support she deserves and help her to help turn around the LAAS to provide more animals with homes and put an end to such a high kill ratio they have had in the past.

Other Pet Advocacy articles that may interest you:
Atlanta Humane Society partnering with local businesses for adoptions
Shedding light on the USDA’s report and puppy mills
Do cats have the right to bear claws in California?

Click the paw print for the “Pet Pages” blog, a place for the authors’ personal notes.

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