Stan said he was asked by their Council 15-20 years ago to do a study of the number of busts they did regarding people with too many cats. The study revealed they did 2 or 3 in a ten year period of time, despite having no limit on the number of cats owned.
He said during the past five years there were no such cases. Any impounds were for single or animals.
He stated several people have built cat or dog kennels in their back yards that cause no neighbor complaints whatsoever.
He stated sometimes SMAC responds to neighbor complaints of excessive smell or nuisance conditions, and they do investigate. He said, for example if they found 30 cats living in deplorable conditions due to an owners inability to maintain the cats, they might give an order to reduce the total number to 15 or face further action. If conditions persist, they could and would seize under Californian Penal Code 597, but they have not.
He says it is not a matter of how many animals but the conditions the animals live in.
Once again, this leads me to question the logic of a 3-cat, 3-dog limit, irregardless of living conditions, as well as the excessive time that is spent by Animal Services and the ACTF enforcing such limits.
By the way, Santa Monica is currently interviewing for a permanent shelter director if anyone is interested.
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