Animal Control: Special Operations 90291 by Lydia Ponce

Dedicated to all the people sharing life, sharing love and time with a doggie…

The Westminster Dog park is located 1/4 mile west of Reese Tabor Oakwood Park, keep walking…

I flew into LAX late night Friday, 8/11/2023, from Nebraska. I had attended an Indigenous People’s Summit in Omaha for work. I was very surprised to find an Animal Control “Special Operations” (ACSO) ticket next to my porch on the ground.

Animal Control Special Operations, ACSO, Representative Marquez signed this citation and he wrote: “Dog #1 HEARD BARK INSIDE HOME.” Additionally, Marquez circled ‘heard’ dog barking and I repeat, wrote and signed the official city document. How did a citation for a dog that doesn’t exist need proof of all the required documents and Rabies vax?

My dogs were 4 miles away at a dog care facility for several days as I was out of town. It is IMPOSSIBLE for Marquez to hear my dogs bark inside my home unless he’s a Marvel Comic superhero with ultra super-powered hearing… perhaps he’s a DC Comics hero, I don’t know. Does Marquez have super-powers to hear specifically my dogs in Santa Monica from my front door? I make light of it because of Marquez’s audacity, his lie… and his signature.

Marquez heard a dog bark inside my home….?

It was reported by neighbors that ACSO’s Marquez was walking around our street and he asked various people for assistance to locate homes with dogs . Unfortunately, one neighbor responded to Marquez. Some homes were pointed out, including my home and my dogs. Marquez is running around Venice, writing up bogus tickets, and throwing them over fences if no one responds to his knock or the door bell ring.

I took my dogs’ proof of registration, micro chipped, rabies vax… and proof of sterilization. The fur babies are not due to renew everything until 2/2024. The citation charges are $300, times two. It wasn’t clear as it was written, “dog #1.”

I took all required documents – to the Animal Shelter, please remember to make copies of everything, in case you have to prove you’ve been responsible…. I explained to the rep at the Animal Shelter counter what happened. Her response was, “Well that’s why the officer gave you the citation- there’s no record of BUB being registered… the officer did not see his paperwork… Bub is not listed in the Animal Shelter computer, he is not registered.” So according to their logic and process: I was given a ticket by a city rep that didn’t hear my dog and somehow my dog exists in Marquez’s ear and my dog does not exist in their computer files ….

The ACSO employee conversation was scripted. One liar backed up another liar. LA Animal Control got my payment of $20 bucks on lies and fraud. My dogs were not due for anything until 2/2024.
How did I get dog tags 2 1/2 years ago??? I paid for the dogs tags at the WLA Animal Control Offices on Pico Blvd!
Hey VNC – ask Ms. Lozada, CD11, visibility to ensure Animal Control will attend the upcoming monthly general VNC meeting, please make note of it in your calendars. They all claim to be understaffed.

This is some serious grifting!

Decidedly, they issue warnings and not tickets for off leash violations at Reese Tabor Oakwood Park. So why not enforce the dogs on leash law at the local People’s Park?
This Animal Control policing proves that the Los Angeles City “SPECIAL OPERATIONS” can post up at Reese Tabor Oakwood Park! LA CITY ANIMAL CONTROL can provide true, real and LEGALLY BINDING fines, charges and lessons, citations for the rude, assuming, privileged and entitled people who take their dogs off their leashes. Traci Park must set her priorities, straighten out and redirect the focus on the off leash laws as written and gather funding for the animal shelters! Their violations’ campaign should be directed at all LA Parks!!!

We have heard from Venice community there’s a ticket campaign, many neighbors have received $300 charges, and it’s ridiculous! ACSO’s process for writing these citations is beyond questionable and reeks of FRAUD.

For people who are not saving their vet receipts or keeping proper records… perhaps they can’t locate their pets’ vaccination records, perhaps they are income challenged. They may give up their pets. Yes, there are people who can afford to pay an average of $300 per citation per dog. However there are people who cannot afford the expense or even take time off work to handle this. It’s quite sad that fines are written by the Special Operations are based on a walk around by a City Department Rep.

To date, multiple LA City reps have failed to respond to my emails, no surprise.

We do have multiple emails prior to the Summer of some lame communications. However, this here is proof that these back and forth email communications are a stall tactic… they check the box on their city forms that they addressed our concerns. This is a poor example of public engagement.

Please let’s get off the not so merry go ‘round emails sent to our one community group as City Reps respond to provide updates on who is on vacation. They send yet more emails to attempt to show some sort of engagement to solve this …. over 30 years we, the community, are exhausted with City Reps’ empty words. All in all, this is green moldy bologna being served. In the end, we will resolve this grass roots old school way, with our fellow activists and we will organize. We, the community, keep ourselves safe. Then perhaps a lawsuit will be filed because that’s the only path to a minimal chance to having some justice.

We must demand the City of LA’s ACSO Rep. Marquez work to give citations at Reese-Tabor Oakwood Park! Meanwhile – dogs are off leash at Reese Tabor Park illegally everyday, all day long. Lack of enforcement protocols and their behaviors are an epic failure to keep the public safe. You can keep your proposed white fence for an area for the dogs to shit and piss…

Though I feel for the pets who were adopted in the last 3 years. I hear many adopted dogs were dumped back at the shelters once Covid restrictions and requirements were lifted. It all resulted in overcrowded and too little funding for the animal shelters. Shame on the flighty, shallow, selfish, and bogus people who dump their dogs!

Common sense is not so common;
epic failure when governing institutions are left to their own devices. We need a community oversight committee! Oh wait, that sounds like a PAB Board!!!

Where is our Reese Tabor Oakwood PAB???

Lydia Poncé
Original Save Venice, Venice Equity Alliance