Hey look! It’s our buddy Debbie Knaan in the pages of the L.A. Times!
From a small office on the 18th floor of the downtown criminal courthouse, Deputy Dist. Atty. Deborah Knaan oversees all of the district attorney’s prosecutions for animal abuse.
A former manager in the city’s Department of Animal Services, Knaan offers advice to prosecutors about animal cases and organizes training programs for prosecutors and police officers on identifying signs of cruelty and neglect. She has also written a proposed law that Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley is sponsoring to ban people convicted of animal cruelty from owning pets for up to life.
A former manager in the city’s Department of Animal Services, Knaan offers advice to prosecutors about animal cases and organizes training programs for prosecutors and police officers on identifying signs of cruelty and neglect. She has also written a proposed law that Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley is sponsoring to ban people convicted of animal cruelty from owning pets for up to life.
During a recent interview, Knaan sat behind a desk adorned with a photo of herself cuddling her three dogs — Ziggy and Spice, her two Jack Russell terriers, and Elmo, a Dachshund-Chihuahua mix — and spoke about the need to protect animals.
“They cannot talk. They cannot get away. . . . They’re totally vulnerable,” she said. “It’s our huge obligation to them to take care of them.”
Last year, Knaan filed felony cockfighting charges against Israel Ramirez, marking the first time the district attorney’s office had treated cockfighting as a felony since state lawmakers changed the law in 2006 to allow prosecutors to do so for repeat offenders.
Ramirez, who had three prior convictions for cockfighting-related offenses, had been arrested at his home in South Los Angeles in the middle of what police said was a contest, or “Derby Day.” Officers seized about 50 roosters and numerous knives used to attach to the birds’ spurs for fighting.
Knaan said Ramirez charged spectators $20 each to watch the fights and sold them sandwiches and beer. “It was a real moneymaking sporting event,” she said.
Mrs. P. and I have known Debbie for years and it’s a pleasure to see her get a nice write-up. Mrs. P. was especially pleased to see Ziggy, Spice, and Elmo make the paper.
Debbie recently got a much-deserved promotion. Because she has a notorious reputation as a practical joker, I thought it would be funny to call her up and tell her that the administration had decided to reverse her promotion. I actually pulled it off for about 60 seconds, until my conscience got the better of me . . . I just never thought she’d actually buy it.
Congrats to Debbie for getting a rare favorable and fair mention from this rag of a paper.
By the way, read the article for some examples of truly evil, awful people. People who are deliberately cruel to innocent animals are like people who hurt children. They’re more awful than the average criminal.