Improvement and Expansion of County Animal Care Centers
The Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control (DACC) is embarking on a plan for improvement or replacement of its six animal care centers. A seventh center is under construction in the City of Palmdale and projected to be completed by July, 2016.
The six centers, between 39 – 69 years old, have exceeded their useful life and are costly to maintain. The existing centers need to be modernized or replaced. Tremendous advancements in animal care and sheltering have been developed since the original centers were built. DACC and the Department of Public Works (DPW) have incorporated these modern design elements into the Palmdale Animal Care Center. These programming documents will be used to design and guide the construction or renovation of other animal care centers.
DACC and DPW are in the process of securing an architectural consultant to use the programming documents to carry out the feasibility and programming services for the replacement or renovation of existing animal care centers. DACC will provide updates to the CCCA as they occur.
County Animal Care and Control Billing Rates
Animal care and control services have advanced over the decades to create more complex and robust programs. These developments have been caused by changes in state laws regarding the care of animals; increased demand for investigating animal cruelty and dangerous or vicious dog cases; increased professionalism required of animal control officers; increased public use of animal care centers; and many other factors.
These changes may have impacted the costs of providing animal care and control services. This fiscal year the Department of Animal Care and Control initiated an effort to determine what cost changes, if any, have occurred. The County of Los Angeles Departments of Auditor-Controller and Animal Care and Control have retained the services of MGT of America, Inc. to conduct a comprehensive study to determine the actual costs associated with providing animal care and control services to its contract cities. The results of study are scheduled to be completed in October, 2015.