What $31.85 million reveals about systemic failure How disclosure failures, shelter metrics, and a reactive approach to public safety turned Los Angeles into a case study in preventable dog attacks –– and what reform could look like. This ANIMALS 24-7 guest column originally appeared as the January 26, 2026 installment of author Ed Boks’ own blog, Animal Politics […]
L.A. Animal Services’ pays $31.85 million to victims of shelter dog attacks
The Los Angeles Animal Services payout for allowing dog attacks since allegedly achieving “no-kill” status in March 2021 could have bought 127,000 dog spays, preventing half a million puppy births LOS ANGELES––Los Angeles Animal Services, for the fourth time in as many years, will be shelling out a seven-figure settlement for injuries resulting from non-disclosure […]
Money down the drain: San Diego & L.A. cat-handling & dog attack cases
Donors & taxpayers could save multi-millions if agencies just obeyed laws LOS ANGELES, NEW YORK CITY, SAN DIEGO––The New York City-based American SPCA, with scant actual presence either in New York City or anywhere else, is catching a lot of online flak lately for paying ASPCA president Matt Bershadker upward of $1.2 million a year, […]
$21.5 million settlement from negligent county to jogger mauled by pit bull
King County failed to respond effectively to more than 75 calls from neighbors over four years SEATTLE, Washington––King County, Washington on August 28, 2025 agreed to pay a record $21.5 million to settle claims by pit bull attack victim Gyongyi Bazso Maas, her husband Mike, and their children. Gyongyi Bazso Maas, after seeing the children […]
$7.5 million award for mauling by pit bull rehomed from L.A. Animal Services
Los Angeles Animal Services withheld bite history from pit bull adopter LOS ANGELES, California––The Los Angeles City Council on June 14, 2024 approved a record $7.5 million settlement of claims resulting from a pit bull attack on Argelia Alvarado, 74, of Van Nuys. “In May 2020,” Alvarado’s attorney Kenneth M. Phillips told ANIMALS 24-7, “a […]
“Pit bull Meat Grinder Case” shows need for “Truth in Pet Adoption Law.”
by Kenneth M. Phillips [Kenneth M. Phillips, an attorney since 1976, is the senior specialist in dog bite cases in the U.S. and very likely the world.] ANIMALS 24-7 readers will be interested to know that a major development recently occurred in the Argelia Alvarado pit bull attack case, now widely known as the “Pit […]