Long Beach Animal Care Services bureau manager Staycee Dains will leave her post at the end of June, according to a Thursday, June 1, city announcement — and she’s poised to take over the helm of Los Angeles Animal Services.
LA Mayor Karen Bass nominated Dains on Thursday to take over that city’s animal services agency. That agency has operated without a leader since April 2021, when then-General Manager Brenda Barnette retired from the role after more than a decade on the job.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve the city of Long Beach,” Dains said in that city’s announcement. “I am confident that our city will continue to grow upon the successes we have achieved. I am grateful for the enormous effort and excellent work of our staff, volunteers, City Council and city management for their commitment to Long Beach’s unique model of sheltering that has resulted in historical lifesaving for our communities.”
Since joining the LBACS in February 2019, Dains has led the development of Long Beach’s “Compassion Saves” model of animal management, according to the announcement. That approach, adopted by the City Council in May 2019, isn’t a no-kill policy — but it does require the bureau to focus on reducing euthanasia and increasing pet adoption rates.
Under Dains’s leadership, LBACS reported its highest-ever adoption rate in 2022 — with 1,968 animals re-homed that year, a 194% increase in adoptions since 2018, the announcement said. The shelter’s live release rate — a statistic that determines the overall number of animals that left the facility alive via adoption, a return to their owner, or other outcomes — also increased under Dains’ tenure, from 70% to 80%, the release said.
Dains also helped development LBACS’s first strategtic plan, which outlined the bureau’s plan to prioritize animal well-being, data-based decision making and community partnerships. She also bolstered shelter staffing and employee…
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