STUDIO CITY—The owner of a non-profit animal shelter in Studio City has been accused of hoarding and is facing charges of animal neglect and illegal kennel operation after authorities seized nearly 70 dogs from the facility.
Lucky Puppy Rescue and Retail located on the 11700 block of Ventura Boulevard closed its doors until further notice on Saturday, May 7, after Los Angeles Animal Services removed the dogs from both the shelter and owner, Rachel Kennedy’s, Studio City home.
Officers said they seized 65 dogs, many of which had medical conditions, for humane reasons. Los Angels County code prohibits more than three dogs per residence.
Kennedy backed that many of the dogs were either elderly or sick and required daily medication – she added that most of the animals in her possession were rescued from shelters where they potentially faced euthanasia.
In a Facebook post, Lucky Puppy alleged that all of the dogs that were taken were “elderly, blind, deaf, cancer, and mommies left to die at the shelter with their babies.”
While Kennedy claims she has a permit for most of the dogs to live at Lucky Puppy Rescue & Retail, she was aware she was breaking the law when she took them to her residence, NBC4 reported.
Kennedy added that she would be visiting the animals that are now at the Los Angeles City East Valley Animal Shelter.
Los Angeles Animal Service officials reported that each dog was being examined and a health record was being created – they added that the seized dogs are in custody and unavailable for adoption, foster or transfer to a private adoption or rescue group.
In an interview with ABC7, Kennedy indicated, “They were well taken care of. There’s nothing about this that is hoarding. They said I was over the legal limit of three. I am 100 percent non-profit.”
