L.A. council unanimously confirms new Animal Services head
The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday unanimously confirmed Brenda Barnette as general manager of the Department of Animal Services, the city’s municipal shelter system that Councilman Greig Smith described as “under siege for a long time.”
Barnette follows in the troubled path of two previous general managers. Her predecessor resigned under fire a year ago and the manager before him was fired by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Well aware of the devoted but fractious community of rescuers, volunteers and shelter staffers that she must work with, Barnette told council members: “What I would ask the entire community is to agree on only three things — that we need to save more animals’ lives in the shelter, that we need to spay and neuter more animals in our community and that we need to work to end the cruelty because that will make this a safer community for both the animals and the people.”
