Los Angeles City Council,

Last week on Skid Row, a 4-year-old pit bull named Rosie was chained to a van as it went up in flames after someone threw a flammable object inside. She could not run. A man driving by pulled over, got bolt cutters from a nearby business, and cut her free. Today, Rosie is living in a tent on a Skid Row sidewalk.

Lainey, a young shepherd mix, was rescued from Skid Row in April 2025. Before she was saved, she had been repeatedly sexually abused. Thanks to GSL Rescue, she has been safe in foster care for more than a year, but she is still waiting for a forever home. If you can adopt her, please contact GSL Rescue at gslrescue@gmail.com.

Rosie and Lainey were saved by strangers and rescuers, not by the City. They are the ones we know about.

The laws already exist:

• Chaining: California Health and Safety Code 122335 makes it illegal to chain or tie a dog to a stationary object for more than three hours in a 24-hour period.
• Street sales: California Penal Code 597.4 makes it illegal to sell or give away live animals on any street, sidewalk, or public right-of-way.
  Breeding: Los Angeles requires dogs and cats to be spayed or neutered unless the owner has a breeding permit, and a breeding moratorium has been in effect since 2024.
• Cruelty and neglect: California Penal Code 597 makes it a crime to torment, starve, injure, or deny care to an animal.
• Dog fighting: California Penal Code 597.5 makes dog fighting a felony.

And the law tells officers what to do. Under California Penal Code 597.1, when an officer has reasonable grounds to believe very prompt action is needed to protect an animal's health or safety, the officer shall immediately seize it. Rescuers and PETA document illegal chaining, breeding, and puppy sales on Skid Row in plain sight. Yet according to public records obtained by PETA, from November 2025 through April 2026, LA Animal Services removed no animals for cruelty or neglect and issued no citations for it. In August, the Mayor made a new LAPD and Animal Services partnership permanent.

The problem is not a missing law. It is that nothing forces anyone to act.

When a child is in danger, the system makes people act. Teachers, doctors, and police must report. Every report must be answered. Decisions are tracked. For animals, none of that exists. They deserve the same system.

This protects people, too. A landmark 1997 study by the Massachusetts SPCA and Northeastern University found that people who abuse animals are five times more likely to also harm other people. A 1983 study found animal abuse in 88% of homes where physical child abuse was being investigated. Stopping animal cruelty early helps protect the people around it, including children.

We call on the City Council to pass a Los Angeles Animal Protection Ordinance that requires:

1. Mandated reporting. City employees, including police, sanitation crews, and outreach workers, must report suspected animal abuse and neglect, just as they must report child abuse.
2. A 24-hour response. Every report of an animal in danger must be answered within 24 hours.
3. Mandatory removal. Animals that are chained, injured, sick, starving, or being illegally bred or sold must be removed, with no officer discretion once those conditions are met. They cannot be returned until the owner proves they can and will provide proper care.
4. Public accountability and funding. The City must publicly report every call, response, and outcome, and fund the staff and shelter space to make it work.

Enforcement should begin on Skid Row, where requests for animal welfare checks are higher than anywhere else in the city, and apply to all of Los Angeles.

No more relying on strangers with bolt cutters. Pass the ordinance.