Los Angeles fined more than $560,000 by state agency after dog attacks port animal shelter
The state agency that oversees workplace safety has fined the city of Los Angeles $563,250 after finding that a serious injury suffered by an animal shelter worker was due to “significant safety and training lapses” that left the employee “in harm’s way.”
Cal OSHA said the city failed to protect and train workers at the San Pedro Animal Shelter and failed to “assess and correct overcrowding at the animal shelter, which resulted in animals attacking and biting employees.” Cal/OSHA said in a statement Tuesday.
The California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA) said the employee suffered “serious injuries to his legs requiring hospitalization” during the May 31 attack.
Leslie Corea, the kennel supervisor at the Port of San Pedro Animal Shelter, told The Times earlier this year that she was taking a dog out of the kennel to show it to a rescue group. The dog “jumped out” and attacked her leg. She underwent several surgeries and told NBC she lost half her thigh.
At the time of the attack, Los Angeles Animal Services said in a statement that the company took in 1,500 dogs at six shelters in the city but could only “safely and humanely care” for about 800 dogs at a time.
Overcrowding and understaffing have been a problem for years at urban animal shelters, which are chronically underfunded. Dogs are often doubled or tripled in kennels or stored in crates in hallways due to lack of space.
The number of euthanasias in shelters has surged this year. A Times analysis found that 1,224 dogs were killed from January to September, a 72% increase from the same period last year. Some dogs are sentenced to death not because they are seriously ill or have serious behavioral issues, but because the shelter cannot meet their basic needs.
In imposing the fine, Cal-OSHA cited six California Labor Code violations related to the port’s shelter’s animal management, violence prevention, training, and personal protection and emergency response.
“Employees and their supervisors were not trained in effective animal handling and safety procedures,” Cal OSHA wrote in its citation.
The citation from Cal-OSHA said city employees and supervisors did not receive adequate personal protective equipment or training and “lacked an effective communications system,” leading to delays in emergency response.
California OSHA Administrator Debra Lee said in a statement that the brutal attack on workers in May “highlights the serious consequences of employers failing to take appropriate steps to protect workers from preventable risks.”
“While we can’t undo the harm caused, we can hold employers accountable,” Lee said. “Every employee deserves a workplace that prioritizes their health and safety.”
Mayor Karen Bass and representatives from Animal Services had no immediate comment on the fine.
Dog bites related to animal shelters have become a serious liability for the city.
In June, the City Council agreed to pay $7.5 million to a Van Nuys woman whose arm was amputated after she was attacked by a dog adopted from a city shelter.
According to the woman’s lawsuit, shelter staff failed to provide written notification of the dog’s bite history before the dog was adopted, as required by state law.
A jury awarded a volunteer at the city’s Lincoln Heights shelter $6.8 million after her arm was nearly ripped off in a dog attack last year. The jury found the city responsible for gross negligence.
