2 Animal Shelters’ Boundaries Change

L.A. Animal Services reconfigured its West and East Valley districts to enhance service for area residents and their pets, officials said.

Under the realignment, which took effect Thursday, residents north of the Ronald Reagan Freeway and east of the San Diego Freeway who are interested in adopting or finding lost pets or have animal-related complaints, such as attacks or barking dogs, will need to contact the West Valley Animal Service Center.

Previously, the northeast Valley was served by the East Valley Animal Service Center, which now serves areas south of the Ronald Reagan Freeway and east of the San Diego Freeway. The West Valley shelter will still serve areas west of the San Diego Freeway.

“The realignment came about because we wanted to redistribute the limited resources that we have to improve service in the Valley,” said Peter Persic, spokesman for L.A. Animal Services, which operates six animal service centers in Los Angeles.

“The East Valley shelter is the busiest of the six shelters that we operate and it’s also a smaller shelter than the one in the West Valley,” Persic said.

Statistics showed that the number of impounded animals from July 1996 to June 1997 was 18,627 for the East Valley shelter and 13,805 for the West Valley shelter.

Also, service requests such as picking up stray animals, looking into leash law violations and conducting investigations were twice as high in the East Valley shelter, which outnumbered its West Valley counterpart 4,600 to 2,300.

Persic said the realignment will be evaluated after a six-month trial period.

The other centers will continue to serve their previously designated areas, he said.

Residents served by the East Valley shelter, 13131 Sherman Way in North Hollywood, should call (818) 764-7061.

The West Valley shelter, at 20655 Plummer St., Chatsworth, may be reached at (818) 882-8800.