When I was hired as an officer by Long Beach Animal Control on May 16, 2005, I was very excited about the opportunities I thought would be presented to me by working for the City of Long Beach.  I am an Eagle Scout, have a Bachelor’s degree in biology–option in zoology–and worked at Long Beach Animal Control for more than two years … until September 15, 2007.

Soon after I started, I realized I was not going to get the professional training and equipment I expected.  The training experience was very little, and less than pleasing; the trucks were run down, I had to supply some of my own equipment; it was also a fight to get city-supplied equipment repaired or replaced when needed. Regular pay raises required by the union contract never happened when they were supposed to.  The union contract also states officers are supposed to get one extra uniform a year.  I had two uniforms the whole time I worked there and I was denied numerous times when I asked for at least one more.  I had to wear a polo shirt if I got my uniform dirty while my other one was at the dry cleaner; which happened regularly due to the dirty job I performed.

Being an Animal Control Officer required me to make decisions all day long about how to perform my job: the order of handling calls, how to handle a specific call, how to write up the paperwork, and so on.  In one breath, management stated I needed to use my head, make logical decisions, and not bother them.  The next breath they chastised me for making a decision they–at that particular moment–happened to feel was wrong, and also yell at me for not contacting them.  Even if after a previous similar situation everything was fine, the next time–based on his/her mood–management decided I should have done it differently.

Management enjoyed controlling everything/everyone with fear. This is allowed to happen only because there is no written procedures manual to follow. It also does not help that the union is not able to address the hostile work environment because management will not meet with them. This is because management does not want to change what is working well for them.

Overtime happened on a regular basis, especially since we were perpetually understaffed. I was always hassled when management signed my overtime slips; they verbally gave me a hard time and acted like they were not going to sign it. Even if they sent me on a call close to the end of the day they questioned how long I took to finish all my work after getting back to the shelter later than usual. They told me to ask if I could come in early if I had a lot of paperwork to do. I was always denied when I did ask. Investigations piled up. I could not get any time to type them. I was usually doing a half-hour overtime a day to finish my normal call load paperwork, and I did not even turn in overtime slips because I was too worn down from being hassled every time I turned one in.

Management has major preferential treatment issues at Long Beach Animal Control.

My days off were Monday and Tuesday, and I worked a number of different types of shifts at all times of the day and night.  Officers accrue a day off a month as a personal holiday because if we are scheduled on a holiday we have to work, and do not get extra pay. Less than one percent of my requests for time off were granted, while other people were getting a couple days off a month.  It is documented that during my last year at Animal Control I was scheduled for the most off-hour, and 8 hour turn around shifts. 

Ever since I started working to re-involve the union with Long Beach Animal Control, everything I did was picked apart with a fine-toothed comb. I was being criticized at least once a week by management. I felt I did my job fairly well, and many of my co-workers agreed, but management made me feel like I was useless.

Every person who worked at Long Beach Animal Control expressed they felt the same way at one point or another. The employee turnover rate is tremendous. This leads to worse understaffing, requiring more irregular work schedules, exacerbating the issues. It also causes retraining of people on a constant basis, wasting thousands of dollars.

I am speaking up so that Long Beach Animal Control might enact changes–changes that can allow the agency to serve the public in the high esteem and ability the officers and the public desire, but which the management does not allow.

Tags: abuse, Carey Macy, incompetence, Long Beach Animal Control