Suing the county not an easy task

Last year, my pleas to Zev Yaroslavsky and his office were ignored while animals suffered and froze to death in Los Angeles County "shelters." Therefore, I joined a lawsuit against L.A. County and we were successful in getting a stipulated court order that forced the county to comply with state laws.

Our overwhelming evidence of animal neglect, cruelty and other state law violations included incidences involving the Agoura shelter. The lawsuit was our only recourse given the apathy of the board of supervisors' towards its constituents.

With taxpayer dollars, the county procured sodium phenobarbital to illegally kill animals, then incurred body disposal fees at additional taxpayer expense. A more compassionate and cost effective alternative is to implement revenue generating adoption programs, saving lives and money.

Now Zev once again disregards his constituents and forces on Agoura Hills the Heschel development, which will impact traffic along the 101 Freeway from Calabasas to Westlake Village, as well as all surface streets in Agoura Hills, from Liberty Canyon to Reyes Adobe. The horrific traffic that this project will create is not limited to Old Agoura. All local fire evacuation routes will also be impacted.

Throughout the process, the county has imposed on the sovereignty of the city of Agoura Hills, and leaves its residents no choice but to seek relief from the courts. The litigation will be costly but worth the support of all residents of Agoura Hills given the civil liberties and local autonomy at stake.

As I can attest, taking on L.A. County in court is a daunting task. The current board of supervisors thinks they are above the laws they should be upholding, until forced to comply. Rebecca E. Arvizu Agoura Hills