The Los Angeles City Council Wednesday confirmed the appointment of Gabrielle Amster as the next general manager of Los Angeles Animal Services.
The council approved Amster’s nomination in a 12-0 vote, with council members Tim McOsker, Nithya Raman and Hugo Soto-Martinez absent.
“It’s not a secret that animal services has been faced with serious issues for way too long, and it’s been years since this department has had permanent leadership,” City Councilman Bob Blumenfield said.
“… The department needs a full-time leader who brings fresh eyes and trusted leadership to the issues we face, and I’m very happy that Ms. Amster is stepping up to the plate and bringing her decades to services in the animal advocacy field to our city,” Blumenfield added.
He noted the City Council reversed potentially devastating cuts by providing funds for a Dogs Playing for Life program, increasing the spay and neuter budget by 20% and helped to alleviate the impact of cuts to the Animal Welfare Trust Fund by allocating thousands of dollars for food and medicine.
But for the department to be more successful it needs a strong leader, Blumenfield said.
“Most recently, (Amster) served as the director of the Wallace Annenberg Pet Space, where she regularly partnered with LA Animal Services, the county ASPCA and many other municipalities and nonprofits to increase access to spay neuter services, and adoptions for local pets,” Blumenfield said.
“She gets it,” the councilman added.
Amster said it was an honor to be chosen for the position. She also thanked Interim General Manager Annette Ramirez, who has led the department through an extended period of transition.
Ramirez is expected to return to her role as assistant general manager.
” The heart of LA Animal Services is the staff and the volunteers who show up every day, caring for animals, responding to emergencies and supporting families in crisis, and the adopters who see the beauty and value of shelter pets,” Amster said.
“I intend to invest in them, hold the department to a high standard, and be present and accountable in every corners of this work. The animals and the people of Los Angeles are counting on all of us,” Amster added.
The vote came one day after the three-member Arts, Parks, Libraries and Community Enrichment Committee voted to support the appointment.
Amster has stated her commitment to take a “deep dive” into “SOPs and policies” across all six city shelters, to promote effective policies and consistency across the facilities.
Mayor Karen Bass named Amster as LAAS’ next general manager on April 17, following a months-long search after former head Staycee Dains resigned in December 2024.
Amster brings more than 19 years of experience to the role, and was praised by the Mayor’s Office for her diplomatic leadership style.
She was the interim chief operations officer for Furry Friends Humane and Dogs Playing For Life, and previously served as vice president of shelter relations for DocuPet from February to October 2025.
Amster also served as director of the Wallis Annenberg PetSpace from 2021-25, and was executive director of the Palm Springs Animal Shelter from 2018-21.
Amster will take over for Ramirez, who led LAAS on an interim basis for a year and half prior to Dains’ appointment in 2023, and again began leading the department on an interim basis soon after Dains’ departure.
She is expected to address the department’s euthanasia rate, dilapidated shelter conditions, behavioral issues in some shelter animals, and raising the morale and numbers of the volunteer corps, among other challenges.
Ms. Amster has an exceedingly challenging job ahead of her, as I’m sure she realizes. Our L.A.Shelter is a broken system and one that has been such for many years now. There are many reasons for this sad state of affairs which includes backyard breeding, puppy mills , lack of humane public education. et al., besides the lack of adequate funding, which should be a requirement by the City of such a vital agency. Also deeply flawed is a devotion to the practice of managed intake of domestic animals, transfer , even to out of city and state wherein the public loses track of which animal has been placed where, and little accountability/ follow up ,of that movement, all of which might look acceptable on paper records, but not in reality, and a pathetic SPAY/NEUTER role, it is little wonder that it totally fails in its mission. I have joined others to call to prioritize an accessible Spay/Neuter PREVENTION program above all other policies with that function funded by the City. Only when we turn off ‘the faucet ‘ at the outset will the flood of new births cease. Until then, we are continuing a failed system. Nonetheless, I wish her success for the sake of the taxpayers and the currently victimized sentient domestic pets who, through no fault of their own, find themselves ‘ dependents’ on Shelter.