A senior Los Angeles city employee was severely bitten by a dog at a shelter in San Pedro on Friday, amid growing concerns that dogs at the city’s animal shelters are overcrowded and unhealthy.
Leslie Corea, the kennel supervisor at the Port Animal Shelter, told The Times on Saturday that she was taking a dog out of its kennel to show it to a rescue team when the dog “suddenly jumped out” and attacked her leg.
Corea said she was undergoing surgery at UCLA Harbor Medical Center.
Los Angeles Animal Services spokesperson Megan Ignacio confirmed that an employee was “seriously attacked by a dog, resulting in serious injuries.”
“The staff and volunteers of Los Angeles Animal Services are shocked by the injuries to our colleague and friend. Los Angeles Animal Services has launched an investigation into the incident.
The city’s animal shelters are in crisis due to a lack of space and an influx of animals, according to an email sent to the public by Animal Services late Friday.
The email did not mention the incident involving the staff member but urged the public to adopt and foster dogs.
The email said dogs “suffer physically and mentally from staying in shelters for too long or from challenging conditions caused by overcrowding in city shelters.”
“This crisis has put staff, volunteers and animals in harm’s way, and we will continue to prioritize making the system safer for everyone involved,” Staycee Dains, general manager of animal services, wrote in an email.
The email said the department has the capacity to “safely and humanely care” for about 800 dogs at a time.
But the email said the department oversees more than 1,500 dogs and nearly 50 dogs enter the shelter each day.
Poor conditions led the department to kill more dogs. Animal Services euthanized 102 dogs in April, a 44% increase from the same period last year.
Animal activists are urging more funding for animal services in Mayor Karen Bass’ $12.8 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. same.
Councilor Eunisses Hernandez, chair of the Overseas Animal Issues Committee, was among those who voted against the budget last month.
During the council meeting, Hernandez expressed frustration that about a quarter of the budget would go to the LAPD instead of other city agencies.
Hernandez said in a statement on Saturday that she was shocked by the incident involving the employee.
“Conditions at the city’s animal shelters remain completely unacceptable,” Hernandez said. “We urgently need to take immediate steps to address the crisis at shelters to protect the safety and well-being of the animals in our care and their caregivers.”
Bass’ office did not respond Friday to a request for information about the injured animal attendant.
