Staycee Dains’ departure: A wake-up call for L.A. Animal Services
In which Jill proposes a new kind of leader.
In August, Los Angeles Animal Services (LAAS) announced that General Manager (GM) Staycee Dains would be taking a 2-month leave of absence. The two months have come and gone, and it’s a safe conclusion that Dains will not be returning to her role. Many in the rescue community believed that Dains was never up to the job, despite the support of some heavy-hitter national rescues. Others, yours truly included, wonder if ANYONE is up for it.
There’s no question that Dains has been a polarizing figure since she assumed the GM role back in July 2023. As she toured the six LAAS shelters, scheduled regular Zoom calls with volunteers, proposed breeder regulations, and awarded hardworking staff members, Dains seemed to be playing a game of whack-a-mole.
A heterogenous group of constituencies had competing concerns. As pressure mounted to address record shelter overcrowding, improve conditions, and prioritize spay and neuter programs, Dains quietly ended the volunteer Zoom calls, leaving behind a disaffected cohort of unpaid but dedicated workers.
From a data perspective, the euthanasia rate in August 2024 represented an increase of 122% across the six LAAS shelters—with rates at Harbor and North Central shelters coming in at 189% and 156%, respectively (Source: August 2024 WoofStat report).
Was Dains to blame? It’s complicated.
The “no-kill” debate: a distraction from real solutions
In February 2024, Dains sent an email to 21 leaders in the rescue community inviting them to join a “working group to establish our strategic plan.” I was among the invitees. I was hopeful we would get to work coordinating a plan that could inform LAAS priorities. I’d done this work in my professional life and had ideas.
Two meetings in, Dains led the team through a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis—a staple of freshman management consultants—with no clear endgame. Four meetings in, when we spent 75 minutes debating whether the term “no-kill” was still relevant, I realized that there would be no strategy. There would be no graphical and structured framework for laying out priorities, defining metrics for success, and assigning tasks. I sensed my colleagues felt the same.
It’s easy to use ad hominem arguments to explain away organizational dysfunction. Outsized external pressures, like record-level intakes, preceded Dains’ appointment but continued to worsen. Even with an articulated strategy, she would have failed to enact lasting and systemic changes the system so desperately needs.
Four reasons the next GM will fail
I hate to say it, but there is no White Knight coming to fix the beleaguered LAAS system and, honestly, no one can. Here are four main reasons why:
1. Union shield or management fail? The dilemma of underperforming workers
Paid staff at LAAS shelters are dedicated and hard-working. However, within their ranks, there are those who are known to be singularly unhelpful. One infamous staff member preemptively turns away shelter visitors at the door, without ever asking what they need. A shelter clerk pretends not to recognize you, despite having processed paperwork for dozens of your rescue dogs. Another makes anxious pet owners wait outside in the summer sun because the shelter’s lobby is “too noisy already.”
These workers are protected by their union, SEIU 721.
Don’t get me wrong: unions are necessary to protect workers’ interests. But there are good unions and bad unions, and the union representing shelter workers protects its members at all costs—having a ripple effect on animal lifesaving efforts. It doesn’t help that LAAS is already woefully understaffed.
In times of organizational crisis, good talent exits first. L.A. needs committed shelter workers who care about outcomes, and we have them. For ineffective shelter workers, a GM needs the authority to help them move on.
2. Confinement as a cure? The flawed logic endangering dogs and staff
Embattled LAAS defends itself and often pays out lawsuits by plaintiffs who have been injured by dogs. Each of these incidents is serious and warrants scrutiny. LAAS is said to have at least $14 million in outstanding lawsuits.
A staff shortage and lack of funding for more practical safety measures exacerbate risks. Last summer’s mauling of a staff member at Harbor shelter should have resulted in a published audit of the existing safety infrastructure and procedures with recommendations for improvement. Instead, scattershot rule changes were hastily rolled out, most supporting a flawed syllogism that the more time a dog is confined to its kennel, the less litigation will result.
Nice, adoptable dogs percolating in poop-smeared kennels naturally develop behavior problems, leading to more dogs being listed preemptively for euthanasia, and more restrictions on volunteers who know and work with them. Sloppy policymaking that further limits interactions with dogs tacitly encourages more killing.
3. The uncomfortable truth: too many dogs, too few kennels
In one meeting, Dains asked advisors whether the term “no-kill” was still relevant. As the group debated, I recalled how many times I’d witnessed a dog being surrendered to the shelter as a dismissive owner blithely explained that “L.A. animal shelters are ‘no-kill.’”
Illicit breeding operations, landlords forcing dog-owning tenants out so they can raise the rent, lack of spay and neuter enforcement, and so-called “Covid refugee” dogs have all played a part in the shelter capacity crisis.
L.A. animal lovers have not gotten the memo: there are too many dogs and there’s nowhere to put them. As of October 19th, LAAS had 1,292 dogs and 737 kennels across its six shelters—an overcapacity rate of 175%. LAAS leadership must engage the dog-loving community and admit the truth that puppies, purebreds, and former family pets will die for lack of space.
4. Commoditized lives: how overcrowding turns dogs into numbers
Spend enough time in a shelter and you will get to know some lovely animals. Many beloved family members were dealt a bad hand. They seem to realize their days are numbered and try their best to hang on. We have needlessly lost good friends. For large dogs at L.A. shelters, the clock ticks faster.
Indeed, the shelters are so crowded that dogs become commoditized. When there are over 63 German Shepherds in a single shelter, it’s not obvious to a visitor that Junior is calm and great with children, or that Buster—despite having a bad leg from being hit by a car—can catch a ball and drop it at your feet. Euthanasia decisions are approved by the General Manager, a role that should weigh heavily on the steeliest conscience.
L.A. deserves a game changer at the helm
Some animals, for behavior or health reasons, simply shouldn’t leave the shelter. But for the vast majority, overcrowding leads to their deterioration. It falls upon us evolutionarily-advantaged humans to help them. Yet, it seems that LAAS has marshalled its scarce resources to protect itself and not the animals in its care.
The recently announced “LAAS Strategic Support Collaborative” promises to alleviate some of the problems plaguing the system. The collaborative will tap the resources and expertise of large institutions like the ASPCA, Michelson Found Animals, PetSmart Charities, and VCA Charities, among others. It’s a promising start. Such heterogeneous coalitions tend to have their own leadership challenges, most often failing to execute on their collective vision. Time will tell.
New alliances won’t obviate the need for a competent General Manager. The moneyed national rescue institutions that originally pushed for Dains’ appointment to General Manager reflect the hegemony of the old guard. Leaders, most notably Mayor Karen Bass, must be willing to entertain an unconventional GM who can:
apply fresh thinking to an ossified system;
streamline operational processes;
prioritize spay / neuter programs;
engage the larger community;
reform reward structures; and
shift the culture toward service.
Los Angeles needs this leader. Los Angeles deserves this leader.
Until this leader is found, all we can do is our best.
