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ANIMAL WATCH - Mayor Bass and her administration have shown a shocking callousness regarding welfare of animals. The Mayor’s first strike was on the budget for the L.A. Animal Services Department (LAAS). The Mayor’s original budget contained extensive cuts for LAAS, to the extent that half of the City’s six animal shelters would have to be closed. These closures would have resulted in increased killing of dogs and cats at the shelters simply due to lack of space. Only after protests, demonstrations, and public outcry against these cuts did Mayor Bass agree to an additional $5 million to LAAS’ budget from unallocated, restoring most (but not all) of the cuts. Even with the additional $5 million, LAAS’ budget is well below what the Department requested and what was supported by the Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates. See CityWatch May 1, 2025, Mayor Bass Eases Shelter Cuts, Still Blocks Pet Rescue Plan. And the Mayor’s budget does not provide sufficient funding for spay/neuter vouchers and enforcement; that will have to be addressed by a supplemental request. See CityWatch October 14, 2024, Failure To Provide Adequate Funding For Spay/Neuter Is “Penny Wise And ‘Pound’ Foolish.”
Since the Mayor did restore most of the funding to LAAS as a result of the demonstrations and other pressure from people who care about animals, we’ll call this a foul ball rather than a called strike. (Note: I sent a draft of the CityWatch article cited above to the Mayor’s Office for comment and corrections with the headline Mayor Bass Decimates Our Animal Shelters, Blocks Plan to Save the Lives of Millions of Dogs and Cats, prior to the Mayor’s decision to restore the $5 million. I received an email regarding the $5 million dollars after the deadline I set for comments and corrections, and after the article had been submitted to CityWatch for publication. So we changed the headline and inserted a postscript regarding the restoration of the $5 million.)
The Mayor’s second strike on animal welfare came in regard to Billy and Tina, the elephants at the LA Zoo. In disregard of expert recommendations, public opinion, and opposition from members of the City Council, Billy and Tina were transported to the Tulsa Zoo rather than an elephant sanctuary. See In Defense of Animals, May 23, 2025, Lawsuit, Celebrity Outrage Sparked by Tulsa Zoo Elephant Arrivals; Social Compassion in Legislation, May 20, 2025, The Elephants Are Gone? Empty Enclosures Lead Us To Believe They Are In Transit, Mayor's Office Not Responding. This was done despite the fact that sending the elephants to a sanctuary would have saved the City money, since all costs including travel to a sanctuary would have been covered by a contribution. Information about the transfer to the Tulsa Zoo was hidden from the public and City Council, and the elephants were taken out of the zoo in the middle of the night.
The Mayor’s third strike, which is on-going, is blocking a plan to save millions of dogs and cats in Vietnam from horrible abuse and brutal death. This plan, called the Sister City Project to End Dog and Cat Meat In Vietnam, will not cost the City anything, and will in fact be economically beneficial to Los Angeles.
Readers of CityWatch are well aware of the Sister City Project to End Dog and Cat Meat In Vietnam. See, e.g.: Five Million Dogs and Cats Desperately Need Saving in Vietnam
L.A. Demands Hanoi Ban Dog and Cat Meat to Secure Sister City Status
Approximately 5 million dogs and 1 million cats are brutally killed in Vietnam each year in the dog meat trade. That’s more than 13,000 dogs and 2,700 cats a day. A description of the brutal ways in which dogs are killed is contained in the above cited CityWatch article.
The City of Los Angeles has a unique opportunity to convince the city of Hanoi to ban dog and cat meat, as we helped to do nationwide in South Korea. It is the official position of the City of Los Angeles to oppose dog meat, including specifically in the country of Vietnam. In 2019, the City Council unanimously passed a resolution to that effect, which was signed by the Mayor. The resolution is quoted here.
The idea is to offer Hanoi a sister city relationship with Los Angeles, which would be conditioned on Hanoi banning dog and cat meat. Los Angeles does not currently have a sister city in Vietnam.
In September 2023, President Biden and the leader of Vietnam entered into the Joint Leaders’ Statement: Elevating United States-Vietnam Relations To A Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The Joint Leaders Statement encourages sister city relationships between the United States and Vietnam. Becoming sister cities will offer Los Angeles and Hanoi many benefits, including increased business and trade opportunities, travel and tourism, educational and cultural exchanges, and cooperation and investments in science, technology, agriculture, and energy, among other benefits.
The plan is to do what President Biden suggested, enter Los Angeles into a sister city relationship with Hanoi. Because of the official position of Los Angeles to oppose dog meat in Vietnam, such a sister city relationship should be conditioned on Hanoi banning dog and cat meat, or agreeing to phase it out.
After many months of discussion and consideration, the Sister City Project was introduced in the Los Angeles City Council on February 21, 2025 as Council File 25-0193, by Councilman Bob Blumenfield, and seconded by City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson. There has been overwhelming public support for it. More than 2,900 people have submitted Public Comments in the City Council File 25-0193 in support -- an astounding number of public comments on a City Council motion. The Tarzana Neighborhood Council has passed a Resolution and Community Impact Statement in support, as have the Woodland Hills Warner Center Neighborhood Council and Canoga Park Neighborhood Council. The Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils (VANC), consisting of representatives of the Neighborhood Councils in the San Fernando Valley, unanimously passed a resolution in support: see VANC Resolution supporting the Sister City Project to End Dog and Cat Meat in Vietnam. Prior to introduction of 25-0193, more than 9,000 people signed a petition entitled Los Angeles & California Must Help End the Brutal Killing of Millions of Dogs & Cats in Vietnam, asking City Councilmembers to sponsor and support a resolution or motion adopting the Sister City Project To End Dog and Cat Meat In Vietnam.
Daily News, Los Angeles Considers Hanoi Sister City Partnership To Encourage Dog Meat Ban.
But no action has been taken by the City Council since the motion’s introduction on February 21 because Mayor Bass has placed a hold on it. Mayor Bass has placed this hold despite the fact that 13,000 dogs and 2,700 cats are dying horrible deaths each day. She has placed this hold despite the overwhelming public support for the motion. She has placed this hold despite the fact that this life-saving initiative will not cost the City of Los Angeles anything.
There is no reason to block or delay a City Council vote on the Sister City motion. Questions regarding the motion have been asked and resolved prior to introduction of the Sister City motion, including:
1. Will this cost the City of Los Angeles anything? The answer is No, it will in fact be economically beneficial to the City, as discussed in the previous CityWatch article.
2. Is it culturally insensitive to ask Hanoi to ban the dog and cat meat trade? No. That miscomprehends Vietnamese culture and the offer of a sister city relationship. The majority of Vietnamese citizens support a ban. The dog and cat meat trades are economic, not cultural. There are people who make money from dog and cat meat, and it is they who keep the practice going. The Sister City Proposal provides an economic opportunity and incentive as a counterbalance, negating any money to be lost from ending the dog and cat meat trade.
A poll conducted in Vietnam by the organization Four Paws found that 95% of Vietnamese think that eating dog and cat meat is not part of Vietnamese culture. A recent Nielsen opinion poll found that 68% of respondents in Vietnam support a ban on the dog meat trade and 71% support banning the cat meat trade.
Offering Vietnam an economic incentive and cultural partnership is more culturally sensitive than merely sending them a petition asking them to stop dog and cat meat, which has been done on numerous occasions and has been ineffective. If we don’t provide this sister city incentive, it will be years, if ever, for a dog and cat meat ban in Vietnam because of the economic interests supporting it and the inability of animal rights activists to effectively demonstrate against it.
The way the motion in Council File 25-0193 has been written (and this was after several re-writes and edits) is not at all confrontational. There is only one sentence which deals with this issue and it does not even directly mention dog and cat meat. It says: “As part of the City's discussions to establish a sister city relationship with Hanoi, the City's representatives and negotiators should keep in mind the policy set forth in Council File 19-0002-S101.”
The official in the Mayor’s Office primarily responsible for the hold being placed on Council File 25-0193 is the Mayor’s Executive Officer, An Tran. The explanation she provided for placing the hold was:
“As it stands, we have not made any significant progress toward an LA-Hanoi Sister City just yet. The conversation has stalled for some time but if/when we do pick up this discussion, we will keep in mind the significance of including a stipulation on Vietnam ending the dog and cat meat trade. If there are any updates on the establishment of a sister city with Hanoi, I'd be happy to keep you in the loop.”
I responded to her, in part, as follows:
“In light of the fact that the Mayor’s Office is not moving forward on an LA-Hanoi Sister City relationship now, I think Council File 25-0193 should move forward at City Council expeditiously. As noted in CityWatch, more than 13,000 dogs and 2,700 cats are being terribly abused and brutally killed every day in Vietnam. Dogs are beaten to death, hanged, bled out from a cut to the throat or groin, thrown conscious into large drums of boiling water, and killed in other cruel ways. Prior to their deaths, the dogs are kept and transported in unimaginably horrible conditions. There should be no further delays on this.”
Receiving no response to this, I wrote to Ms. Tran again, asking for an update and offering to work with her to advance the sister city project, along with Fleur Dawes, the Director of Communications and International Partnerships for In Defense of Animals (IDA); Nina Jackel, the founder and President of Lady Freethinker (LFT); Corinne Ho; and Thanh Tam Ton (Tammie). We received no response from Ms. Tran or anyone else in the Mayor’s Office. (I also included Mayor Bass’ press secretary in this correspondence.)
By placing a hold on City Council File 25-0193, while not moving forward with a sister city proposal with Hanoi that commits to ending dog and cat meat, the Mayor and her staff are countenancing the horrendous abuse and killing of millions of dogs and cats. Since February 21 alone, when the Mayor’s Office put the hold on 25-0193, more than 1,200,000 dogs and 250,000 cats have been abused and brutally killed in Vietnam. As well as considering this ongoing inhumane disaster, the Mayor and her staff should keep in mind that the tens of thousands of voters in Los Angeles who care about these things are watching. Mayor Bass and Executive Officer Tran – please remove the hold on Council File 25-0193 and expeditiously move forward with the Sister City Project to End Dog and Cat Meat in Vietnam!
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A draft of this article was submitted to the Mayor’s Office for comments and corrections. The Mayor’s Office responded as follows:
“Mayor Bass cares deeply about the wellbeing of animals which is why her administration has worked to address longstanding challenges in the Animal Services Department and she has established new and innovative programs to help provide veterinary care for the pets of people experiencing homelessness as part of Inside Safe.
“Regarding your claims about the Animal Services budget, the Mayor's summary of her proposed budget said:
“’The Proposed Budget contains funding for the department in two different areas – in the departmental budget but also an additional $5 million in what’s called the ‘unappropriated balance’ which would ensure that no shelters close. Mayor Bass has recommended to the City Council that they move to use the funding we identified in the unappropriated balance for the Animal Services Department and the City Council Committee that oversees the budget process recently took steps to accept that recommendation. In the main section of the Animal Services budget, additional funding is provided for a new South LA facility manager which will help pilot future realignments planned for critical functions that will more effectively support: animal health, welfare and lifesaving; optimized safety within the shelter facilities and for the public at large; and, increased responsiveness to community needs. The Los Angeles Animal Services Department has been facing an overcrowding crisis for years and the Mayor is working to create new strategies, maximize partnerships and resources that rebuild trust within the department, increase safety for staff and volunteers, and create a more humane environment for the animals in its care.’
“Regarding your claims about Billy and Tina, Tina is also owned by the San Diego Zoo, who would not permit her moving to a sanctuary. That means if the determination to move Billy to a sanctuary was made, the 15 year relationship between Billy and Tina would be severed. The health and well-being of the elephants has been the top priority throughout the decision to move the elephants, and the decision was made at the recommendation of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and its Elephant Species Survival Plan (SSP), which advises on the management of the entire population of elephants in AZA-accredited institutions.
“More background information:
- “The L.A. Zoo was guided by recommendations by groups of elephant experts from around the country who work together through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and its Species Survival Plan to advise on and manage the elephant population in all AZA-accredited facilities.
- “After 15 years of living together, Tina and Billy are bonded, and separating animals with such a close bond would be traumatic for both and not in their best interest. Tina has been owned by the San Diego Zoo for her entire tenure with the L.A. Zoo, and San Diego supported her move to the Tulsa Zoo, which will be able to provide excellent care for her individual needs.
- “FAQ addressing other concerns you raised available here: https://lazoo.org/elephantfaq/”
The Mayor’s Office would not comment regarding the third strike, the hold the Mayor has placed on City Council File 25-0193, the Sister City Project to End Dog and Cat Meat in Vietnam, which is the main subject of this article. While the hold is in place, 13,000 dogs and 2,700 cats are being killed every day.
(Jeffrey Mausner (www.mausnerlaw.com/) is on the Executive Committee of the Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils (VANC) where he serves as the Liaison to the Los Angeles Animal Services Department; he is 2nd Vice President of the Tarzana Neighborhood Council and Chair of its Animal Welfare Committee. He also volunteers at the West Valley Animal Shelter. A retired attorney, law professor, and former U.S. Justice Department Federal Prosecutor, Jeff has received numerous awards, including the 2023 Guardian of the Animals Award and a 2024 Special Commendation from the California Legislature. He co-founded the Global Anti-Dog Meat Coalition. This article is written in his private individual capacity, not on behalf of the Animal Services Department.)
