Animal Services Boss Seeking Help From Radical Animal Rights Group

By Ryan Deto Tue., Oct. 4 2011 at 10:45 AM

If only dogs could bark the word "mistake"

On September 22, yours truly reported on the continued mishaps of L.A. Animal Services General Manager Brenda Barnette.

The story told of a possible, strange alliance between the City and radical animal activists Pamelyn Ferdin of the Animal Defense League (ADL-LA); Ferdin was hinted to being behind the City's advertising plan, which put large adoption banners on city animal shelters in August. While both Ferdin and Barnette denied any relationship at the time, a blog post published in February 2011 on LA Animal Watch shows Barnette's department reaching out to the ADL-LA.

Here is an excerpt from the blog post:

The below was forwarded to ADL-LA by an individual in upper management who has worked at Los Angeles Animal Services for over five years:

"I have followed Animal Defense League-Los Angeles and their Stop The Killing campaign for years, and have admired your tenacity in the quest to help the city shelters become progressive, humane and no kill."

Considering that members of ADL-LA have terrorized people who work for animal services and Ferdin was once sentence to 90 days in jail for trespassing and conducting a "targeted demonstration" on the property of a high ranking animal services official, any admiration of the extremist group seems odd.

The letter ends with a call for help:

"[We] desperately need the humane community's help! Each and everyone in the humane community has some unique way they can help, whether it is working directly with the animals, reaching out to the public, helping to raise funds or volunteering to answer phones. Another really important thing [animal services] needs is contacts with celebrities, etc. Do any of your readers have connections with individuals who will make free banners, paint signs?"

The hypocracies, fall-outs, and implications of this request could mean a big mess for Barnette.

The department says they are overtly seeking help from everyone in the human community, but why are so many organizations, such as The Amanda Foundation and SPCA-LA, say they are being ignored?

The one celebrity group that was already working with the department, Katherine Heigl's foundation, broke off their relationship with animal services in August.

Lastly, the letter shows animal services requesting help from ADL-LA with financing advertising banners. It seems Ferdin (through her puppet - quirky lawyer Steven Bernhiem) jumped at this chance.

The result was the removal of 14 environmentally certified trees at the shelter in Van Nuys (which were then replaced with private and tax-payer funds) and local, proven animal care groups wondering why they are being given the cold shoulder.

To quote the mantra of animal extremists, it looks like Ferdin and Barnette are doing "whatever it takes to save animals."

Tags:

ADL-LA, animal extremists, Animal Services Department, Brenda Barnette, Pamelyn Ferdin

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jackcarone

Implementing programs to save animals is not radical, killing them is. Is putting up banners to promote adoptions radical? And in the day of Occupy, do you consider it wrong to demonstrate against injustice, as Pam Ferdin has done? Finally, would you please explain the meaning of this?--"The hypocracies, fall-outs, and implications of this request could mean a big mess for Barnette." I don't detect any of those things in the letter's verbiage. Thanks.

fearnot

the pit bull killing should delight "Honesty Helps".. she/he is all for killing all pit bulls.. links to "kill all pit bulls " etc are found on the website run by this person.. don't be fooled.. this person has no love for animals.

Honesty Helps

I don't know where you get that from Fearnot, never have I said I am for killing pit bulls, in fact, I am against bans on pits. I believe in saving pit bulls via BSL. If you want to condemn me, at least do it with the truth and you won't be able to do that. I leave the killing of pits to pit lovers, they do such a good job of it.

Moses Herzog

Here is a good video on meat: http://carnism.com

Moses Herzog

Here is a good video on meat: http://carnism.com

Honesty Helps

Barnette has burned bridges and needs to go. She has lost the support of the humane community with her poor decisions. Now the media is seeing the light about her lack of management skills. It's about time. She brought a lot of baggage from Seattle and should have never been hired to begin with. In addition to increased impounds, increased euthanization, fewer adoptions, she is over the budget. No wonder, she paid ACOs three times the amount she could have paid canvassers plus she took these ACOs off the streets, putting animals in danger. Brenda Barnette is becoming a joke and Boks can't hold a candle to her. Who is paying the price of her inabilities, the animals in the shelter of course. Under her past year, the deaths of pit bulls in the shelter are at the highest since 2007. Breeder Barnette has to go and slam that door as soon as she walks through it.