Shelter animals haven't been walked in weeks. Let the dogs out now.

Understaffed, underfunded and overwhelmed by the demands of caring for more than 1,000 dogs and about 600 cats, in addition to other creatures, the Los Angeles city animal shelter system is in crisis.

A report in the Los Angeles Times last month related accounts of dogs not being walked or let out of their cage-like kennels for weeks — sometimes even more than a month. Shelter volunteers spoke of filthy and overcrowded kennels. In the aftermath of the story, L.A. City Councilman Paul Koretz, who chairs the council’s Personnel, Audits, and Animal Welfare committee and has long been involved in city animal issues, held two hearings where numerous frustrated volunteers and former shelter employees shared their experiences.

There are plenty of problems at the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services, which runs the city's shelter system, that contributed to the deplorable conditions. Consider the staffing. There are 300 employees and 64 vacant positions — some that are in the process of being filled, according to Annette Ramirez, the interim general manager. In any given week 40 people are absent because they have COVID or are isolating because they were exposed to someone who has COVID, Ramirez says.

But the department also depends on more than 1,000 active volunteers who walk dogs, play with the animals and prepare snacks for them, do laundry and interact with people looking to adopt an animal. Volunteers are expected to work a minimum of six hours a month, according to Ramirez. But some are there every day, doing what they can to make life a little better for the creatures consigned to a shelter and improve their chances of being adopted into what animal welfare advocates like to call a “forever home.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/editorial-shelter-animals-haven-t-been-walked-in-weeks-let-the-dogs-out-now/ar-AA10PCFF