City officials are keeping quiet today about a crisis at the Los Angeles Animal Services Department, where General Manager Staycee Dains is on two-month leave without explanation and the department’s recently appointed board chair has resigned after chairing just one meeting.

Annette Ramirez, who led the department on an interim basis for a year and a half before Mayor Karen Bass appointed Dains as GM last year, has taken the reins again during Dains’ leave of absence.

“I am writing to you today to provide you with an update regarding the leadership of our department. General Manager Staycee Dains is currently on leave and in her absence, I will serve as Acting General Manager,” Ramirez wrote in a letter to employees on Friday. “Please know that our department will continue to operate at full capacity and perform all of its general functions. I have spoken with supervisors and team leaders and am confident that we will continue to move forward.”

Staycee Dains, general manager of Los Angeles Animal Services, speaks for the first time about the state of animal shelters after volunteers and rescue groups accused the organization of not putting the welfare of animals or the safety of people in their shelters first. Tracey Leong reports for NBC4 News on Monday, June 17, 2024 at 6 p.m.

Questions about Dain’s leave of absence were not answered by LAAS officials and it was not clear if and when she would return.

The mayor’s office referred questions about Dain’s status to Ramirez’s memo. Dains, who previously headed Long Beach’s animal control agency, did not respond to attempts to reach her for comment.

The Board of Animal Services Commissioners, which sets policies and oversees the city’s six animal shelters, is also facing major restructuring.

The board meeting scheduled for August 13 was cancelled, and James Johnson, who was appointed chairman of the board in July to succeed Larry Gross, is no longer present, leaving two of the five seats on the board vacant.

Johnson was appointed to the board by Bass in 2023 and was elected president by the board on July 9 after Gross announced his voluntary resignation. The first meeting chaired by Johnson on July 23 was rocky, as Johnson clashed with a member of the public who criticized Dains and made a failed attempt to push through a $25,000 contract for “security and engagement” services, but then offered to raise the funds himself after commissioners opposed the proposal.

The next scheduled meeting of the LAAS Commissioners will take place on August 27th at City Hall.

The restructuring comes against the backdrop of worsening overpopulation in animal shelters. There are too many unwanted animals, but not enough space, staff, volunteers or adopters.

According to the LAAS website, there were 1,450 dogs in the city’s six shelters on Saturday, far more than the department’s capacity of 737.