Disturbing Allegations
New Front Street operations manager has history of ‘chaos and suffering’
By Cathryn Rakich
August 2025
Under Philip Zimmerman’s leadership over the last five years, the city’s Front Street Animal Shelter has ignored spay/neuter laws, increased euthanasia, turned away unaltered stray animals and let hundreds of animal control service calls go unanswered.
A recent city audit also cites a lack of a community spay/neuter program, overcrowded kennels, unfinalized policies, uncollected fees and low employee morale.
Now, Zimmerman has hired Staycee Dains to run Front Street’s shelter operations.
Dains, previously with Long Beach and San Jose animal shelters, was named general manager of Los Angeles Animal Services in 2023, overseeing six LA city shelters.
A year later, Dains was put on administrative leave. She never returned.
During her time in LA she was criticized for inhumane treatment of animals, unsanitary shelter conditions, unsafe protocols and extreme euthanasia rates.
Dains “left behind a wake of chaos and suffering,” says Elyse Mize with Fix Our Shelters, a shelter watchdog group.
“Under her leadership, the dog euthanasia rate skyrocketed,” Mize says. “Animals languished in filthy conditions for weeks without basic care.”
According to a Los Angeles Times analysis, dogs euthanized from January through September 2024 increased 72% compared to the same period in 2023. Dogs entering the shelters also increased, but the number killed far outpaced the population gain.
The decision to hire Dains “raises even more serious questions about the judgment and leadership of shelter director Phillip Zimmerman,” Mize says.
Best Friends Animal Society, an animal welfare organization that works with shelters and rescue groups nationwide, conducted an assessment last year of two of the six shelters under Dains’ leadership.
The Best Friends assessment team “feels strongly that the biggest barrier to improving lifesaving at LA Animal Services is the leadership team, specifically the general manager.”
Specifically, Dains.
Best Friends reports “a failure to incorporate no-kill policies into operations and, in some instances, a failure to even meet minimal humane standards of care.”
During the assessment, staff at LA shelters reported a lack of communication, accountability and direction from Dains.
The assessment team witnessed shelter staff cleaning kennels that were still occupied, not removing solid waste and flooding kennels with water. The assessment team observed an employee spraying a dog directly in the face, forcing her to fall repeatedly.
The assessment cites these “unacceptable” cleaning procedures were performed under the “common knowledge” of the general manager and direct supervisors.
The procedures are “deplorable and inexcusable by any reasonable standard,” the assessment states. Dogs “suffer mental and emotional breakdown, making them less likely to be adopted and more likely to develop behavior issues.”
Best Friends adds, “This is clearly a violation of public trust and taxpayer expectations.”
At both LA shelters, the assessment team found no documented orders for medical care. Treatment plans were inconsistent. Euthanasia policy “changed five times in the last year” without notice.
The chief veterinarian reported medical decisions were primarily made by Dains with little to no input from the medical team. The shelters made limited effort to isolate ill animals, leading to a “rapid increase” of upper respiratory infections.
The assessment concluded the medical team had “little desire to perform in-house sterilizations,” a barrier to adoptions due to state law prohibiting pets from leaving shelters prior to spay/neuter.
Animals received no enrichment, such as blankets, beds or toys in the kennels. Animals seldom had human interaction. Dogs went two weeks or more without time outside their kennels. One dog was taken out 14 times during her 240 days at the shelter.
Paul Hefner, chair of Sacramento’s Animal Wellbeing Commission, says, “I don’t have a lot to say” about Dains’ employment at Front Street. “The commission doesn’t have any role in personnel decisions at the shelter.”
Hefner, who regularly volunteers at the shelter, adds, “I can say it certainly is disturbing to hear allegations of the kind I am aware of.”
City Council Member Phil Pluckebaum, whose district includes Front Street Animal Shelter, expressed no concern with Dains’ hiring.
In Los Angeles, shelter and rescue volunteers called for a boycott of city animal care facilities while demanding Dains’ dismissal. Volunteers wrote, “Dains has proven herself, daily, to be unqualified to hold the position of general manager.”
At Front Street, Dains oversees animal care, animal care staff and shelter programs such as spay/neuter, adoption, fostering and transfer of animals to rescue groups and other shelters, says Ryan Hinderman, spokesperson for Front Street.
“Staycee Dains was the most qualified for this important role, bringing over 25 years of extensive experience in animal sheltering,” Hinderman says.
Since Dains joined Front Street in May, the shelter has killed 106 dogs and 295 cats—a 67% increase from last year over the same period.
“This hire cannot be allowed to stand,” Mize with Fix Our Shelters says. “The city of Sacramento deserves better. Our animals deserve better.”
Staycee Dains and Phillip Zimmerman declined to be interviewed.
Cathryn Rakich can be reached at cathrynrakich@gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
