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Posted by desiree on September 25, 2002 at 17:29:07:
Grading system for pet businesses advances
COUNTY: About 450 services, including some in South Bay cities, would be rated like restaurants.
By Rachel Uranga
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
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Pet shops, kennels and grooming salons are one step closer to being graded like restaurants under a proposal passed by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
The proposal asks the county Department of Animal Care and Control to devise an A-C grading system within the next month. If the board accepts the department’s plan, the letter grades — patterned after the Department of Health Services’ rating system for restaurants — could start popping up before the end of the year, said John Hill, chief of staff for Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, who proposed the plan.
About 450 businesses would be rated, including those in unincorporated areas of the South Bay and in the cities of Carson, Hawthorne, Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates and Torrance. These cities contract with the county for animal-care services.
Burke said if the program takes off she’ll ask to expand it in cities with their own animal control departments, such as Los Angeles and Hawthorne.
Lisa Miller, director of licensing and code enforcement for the city of Hawthorne, expressed cautious support for the idea.
“On its face it does sound good,” she said. “It may be beneficial to the community. You want to make sure the animals are clean and well taken care of.”
Jackie David of Los Angeles’ Animal Services Department agreed, saying her agency would consider the program but stressed that funding such a grading system could be difficult.
But for some fans of the furry and four-legged, the grades are long overdue.
“There’s (currently) no way for the public to check on a (pet business),” said Cate Garcia, owner of A Shear Pleasure, a pet grooming salon in Torrance.
Although a spokeswoman for the Department of Animal Care and Control said the agency inspects all animal-related businesses once a year for overcrowding, animal health and cleanliness, Garcia said she has owned her salon for three years and has yet to see an inspector.
Publish Date:September 25, 2002
