L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa signs ordinance banning the purchase of live animals in the City of Los Angeles
Watch LCA's undercover footage
LCA joint task force with LAPD to combat the illegal sale of animals from Santee Alley Fashion District
In November of 2009, Last Chance for Animal’s (LCA) Special Investigations Unit (SIU) began working on a joint task force with the LAPD and Voice for the Animals (VFTA), investigating the illegal sale of animals in the Santee Alley fashion district of downtown Los Angeles. For years, the area has been plagued by vendors illegally selling puppies, baby rabbits and turtles, displayed in small cages and plastic containers, to the public on crowded street corners.
Bunny in cage in Santee AlleyLCA's SIU documented animals being sold by a sophisticated network that operates similar to narcotics dealers (lookouts, juveniles conducting sales, secret distribution, and evading arrest only to re-offend). These “rings” also included illegal fruit and food vendors which could also be interconnected with street gang activities. LCA witnessed some vendors also selling puppies in and around the crowded alley. These vendors were protected by multiple lookouts, including children on “razor” scooters and others armed with cell phones, directing them to sophisticated escape routes. Even when arrests are made by LAPD, because of crowded jails and the surprisingly deep pockets of the vendors, they’re very quickly out on bail and back in business.
Undercover photo of Santee Alley illegal amimal salesLCA’s SIU, working with the LAPD, set out to attempt to locate the main distributors of the animals and the heads of the families supplying and selling the animals. The SIU team conducted extensive surveillance around 12th Street and Maple Avenue, the heart of illegal animal sales in Los Angeles.
After identifying multiple teams of animal vendors and ascertaining their residences, the SIU conducted rolling surveillance from their vehicles. This surveillance determined how the vendors left their residences with the animals, traveled to locations in downtown Los Angeles, and then distributed the animals to their street vendors. On multiple occasions, the SIU team coordinated the investigation with LAPD in an attempt to establish the escape routes of vendors and try to track down how they evade arrest. One LCA investigator noted, “It’s not much different than selling drugs on street corners. They have suppliers, distributors, salespeople and lookouts that enable them to easily blend into the downtown crowds, at times using juveniles who will not get prosecuted to sell the animals.”
Undercover photo of Santee Alley illegal amimal salesIn March of 2010, after a lengthy investigation, the SIU turned this information over to LAPD Commander Andrew Smith. The LAPD, using the information, made their presence known directly to the vendor suppliers. They also stepped up their arrests of street vendors, seizing and rescuing animals that would otherwise perish. Commander Smith later said, "We did a follow up based on info we received from LCA... its great having that private/public partnership between LCA and the LAPD."
Although it is illegal to sell live animals on public streets and sidewalks in the City of Los Angeles, it is still a major problem. To combat this, council members Jan Perry and Tony Cardenas proposed an ordinance that will prohibit the purchase of live animals on public streets and sidewalks. The council voted to adopt the ordinance on August 10, 2011, L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa signed the ordinance which then took effect on September 25th, 2011. The Mayor's office is working in conjunction with members of Jan Perry's office to put signage around Santee Alley making the public aware that it is illegal to purchase live animals from the street corner vendors. The new ordinance makes it illegal for any person to purchase, offer to purchase, barter, or receive without cost, live animals on public streets and sidewalks.
