By Crescenzo Vellucci
The Vanguard Sacramento Bureau Chief
SACRAMENTO, CA – California Attorney General Rob Bonta has been asked to open a criminal investigation into charges the city of Los Angles engaged in or allowed animal cruelty to occur in return for a $250,000 annual payoff by a city concessionaire.
A grassroots nonprofit is asking for Bonta’s help because it claims the city, law enforcement and even the SPCA have failed to do anything about the conditions of the alleged abused animals.
“I ask that your office open a criminal investigation into this matter so that I can provide the shocking and compelling evidence that I am confident will lead to the prosecution of animal cruelty charges,” said Zohra Fahim, president of Los Angeles Alliance for Animals in a letter to Bonta recently.
Fahim said in a statement LAAA was taking the case to the AG because of a “longstanding cruelty and neglect suffered by working animals and the mysterious deaths and disappearance of geriatric ponies, and local law enforcement’s failure to seek criminal prosecution for animal cruelty.”
Fahim said LAAA is “demanding a thorough investigation into the Griffith Park and Pony Rides and Petting Zoo’s operation, and Stephen Weeks for substantive allegations of animal cruelty.”
“I request that you please investigate the egregious animal cruelty at the hands of Stephen Weeks, dba Los Angeles Pony Rides, Inc. Weeks took over ownership of the for-profit Griffith Park Pony Ride Concession…in 2016, a historic venue with a 74-year history of providing pony rides on City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks parkland,” wrote Fahim.
She said Weeks “forced geriatric ponies to work in 100-degree (°F) heat while inexperienced wranglers forced elderly ponies to move faster by striking them,” as seen here, adding Weeks overworked the animals and forced “animals to drink water contaminated with algae.”
LAAA, which said it’s been “investigating and documenting the cruel conditions at Griffith Park and Pony Ride Concession” since July 1, 2021, told the AG the Los Angeles District Attorney recused itself from prosecuting the case because of a “conflict of interest,” and other city and county law enforcement related agencies also refused to investigate or take action.
The SPCA in Los Angeles “disregarded cruelty complaints made by LAAA, even though the organization’s mission was created to step in and investigate when these governmental conflicts existed; instead, they allowed the cruelty to these defenseless animals to continue. All of these agencies that have jurisdiction in this matter have failed to protect the animals of Los Angeles,” charged LAAA.
LAAA told Bonta’s AG Office it has “compiled an insurmountable amount of video evidence and documentation that, among other things, Weeks’ routinely overworked geriatric ponies in unbearable heat and failed to provide basic clean water and veterinary care – forcing animals to work with untreated injuries and ailments.”
Fahim added, in her letter to Bonta, “One example of Weeks’ nefarious behavior was during a follow-up inspection by a City appointed veterinarian; Weeks revealed that ten ponies – examined during a previous inspection – had gone missing. According to Weeks, six ponies were ‘placed in other facilities,’ and four mysteriously died under his care.”
LAAA insisted, “Weeks concealed the abuse inflicted on these animals by secretly moving ponies to avoid inspection and proactively disposing of dead bodies destroying valuable evidence that would have revealed criminality. Weeks failed to report the missing ponies to the City, making the suspicious concealment of the animals a material breach of the concession agreement,” which led to concession closing down in December 2022.
Fahim argued to Bonta that “for several years the City was aware of the abuse of the animals but covered it up as the City was earning $250,000 per year from Weeks’ concession agreement. The corruption by City officials created a conflict with local enforcement as LAAA has presented clear evidence of animal cruelty to all law enforcement agencies having jurisdiction in this matter.”
