Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced this on Thursday

hiring

a new general manager to head the city’s Animal Protection Department, which is under scrutiny for staff shortages, overcrowded conditions for animals, and clashes between volunteers and staff.

Bass chose Staycee Dains, director of Animal Care Services for the City of Long Beach.

Danis’ Dains’

appointment requires confirmation by the city council.

Dains joined the Long Beach chapter in 2019. She also spent ten years as a shelter operations manager at San Jose’s Animal Care and Services, according to her resume.

Announcing the appointment, Bass said Dains “will bring strong leadership and a real passion for animal welfare to LA Animal Services.”

“I know Animal Services is challenging and I know Los Angeles faces their own unique set of challenges,” Dains said in an interview. “But I am confident that I will be successful because of my decades of experience in this field.”

Animal Services has been without a permanent general manager since February 2022, when then general manager Dana Brown left the department. Interim General Manager Annette Ramirez has since held the position.

A small group of animal advocates angry about conditions in the city’s animal shelters held a rally outside the city’s West LA shelter in March to demand that Bass choose someone to head the troubled department.

The Times has chronicled poor conditions in shelters, including a lack of dog walking services and insufficient food supplies for small animals. Two recent reports, one from former city councilman Paul Koretz, the other from city manager Kenneth Mejia, detailed longstanding problems, including friction between staff and the volunteers the department relies on to care for the animals.

When asked about such issues, Dains said part of her job would be “relationship management.”

“Connection is really, really important to me, so making sure I’m talking to people, meeting people, and really hearing and understanding what the challenges are, that’s a critical part of moving forward,” Dains said.

Independent journalist

Daniel Guss recently reported that Larry Gross, chairman of the Board of Animal Services Commissioners, sent an email to the mayor’s team in March proposing Dains for the job.

Gross confirmed the email in a phone call Thursday, but said he doesn’t recall having any further communication about Dains with the mayor’s office. He said everything he has heard about Dains has been “incredibly positive”.

“We think the mayor made a good choice,” Gross said.

Paul Darrigo, head of the animal protection group Citizens for a Humane Los Angeles, said he hopes Dains “puts LA Animal Services in order.”

“This position needs someone who is bold, gregarious and outgoing,” said Darrigo. “The department doesn’t need another bureaucrat and I hope Staycee fits that bill.”

Long Beach Animal Care Services released a statement on Thursday regarding Dains’ hiring in LA, noting that Long Beach has “achieved its highest acceptance rate ever” under Dains.