Mary Cummins Wildlife Rehabilitation Animal Advocates News Los Angeles California

Saturday, September 5, 2026

GM of Los Animal Services Gabrielle Amster Shares her Plan for Department, by Animal Advocates, Mary Cummins

General Manager of Los Angeles Animal Services Gabrielle Amster shares her plan for the Department.

This is a summary of the video linked below which I wrote.

She stated the main problem today is pet overpopulation. During Covid more people wanted pets because they were stuck at home. This caused some to start breeding more pets. Covid also caused a lack of spay neuter services due to the lockdown.

LAAS provided 65,000 spay neuter surgeries within the last year. We still have to euthanize because of pet overpopulation and shelter space. Even with these issues live release rate for dogs is 90-91% and for cats it's 80-85% depending upon time of year and shelter (there are six shelters).

She stated they euth for space and behavior. After some pets are in kennels for long periods of time their mental and physical health can decline.

Skid Row is a complicated issue. There are some good pet owners and some who are neglecting the animals just like in any community. In 2025 LAAS and LAPD teamed up in Skid Row. There is now one decidated officer just for Skid Row. We also have great partners on the ground there (Street Vet, Best Friends, .....)

We are willing to work with outside sources in a public private partnership. The City Council agreed to work with outside sources. We just must first do our due diligence. We want to find solutions. We are doing an RFI (Research for Information) for a public private partnership to see if it's feasible.

We just received a $14,000,000 grant from Best Friends and ASPCA to hire 23 new positions.

https://www.foxla.com/video/fmc-7sinkjnwsm6yiza1

Animal Advocates' comment: Back in early 2000 we were concerned about the department killing wildlife and the high euthanasia numbers for cats, dogs and bunnies. We started going to LA Animal Services Commission meetings to speak about these issues and learned a lot. We joined the spay neuter Committee, Shelter Task Force and we became a New Hope foster partner. Our founder was later appointed a member of the Prop F Committee which oversaw the construction of the new shelters. She was also approved to be a Commissioner. We fostered some domestic animals and took thousands of wild animals for rehab and release over the years. We got the 2004 Wildlife Policy passed so they wouldn't euthanize wildlife and would instead give the animals to wildlife rehabilitators. Instead of complaining and attacking we helped the department to help animals.

To all of those who are only complaining, yelling and attacking the department, get out there and help! Adopt animals, foster animals, volunteer at the shelter, donate a grant for more spayneuter, fund your own spaymobile to spayneuter more animals, go help animals on Skid Row directly, pick up and foster animals from the street, go help homeless people with their pets, stand at the door of the shelter and offer to take people's animals before they dump them... Do something instead of just sitting on your behind and pointing a finger. LAAS didn't cause pet overpopulation which leads to euthanasia for space. People in Los Angeles caused pet overpopulation. This is your city. Give them an amazing cheap or free idea to save more animals. They'd love to do it. The department needs help. Help them, don't attack them! Attacking them only makes it worse for animals.

Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game and the USDA. Mary Cummins is also a licensed real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California.

Google+ Mary Cummins, Mary K. Cummins, Mary Katherine Cummins, Mary Cummins-Cobb, Mary, Cummins, Cobb, wildlife, wild, animal, rescue, wildlife rehabilitation, wildlife rehabilitator, fish, game, los angeles, california, united states, squirrel, raccoon, fox, skunk, opossum, coyote, bobcat, manual, instructor, speaker, humane, nuisance, control, pest, trap, exclude, deter, green, non-profit, nonprofit, non, profit, ill, injured, orphaned, exhibit, exhibitor, usda, united states department of agriculture, hsus, humane society, peta, ndart, humane academy, humane officer, animal legal defense fund, animal cruelty, investigation, peace officer, animal, cruelty, abuse, neglect #marycummins #animaladvocates #losangeles #california #wildlife #wildliferehabilitation #wildliferehabilitator #realestate #realestateappraiser #realestateappraisal #lawsuit Disclaimer: https://animaladvocatesmarycummins.blogspot.com/p/mary-cummins-disclaimer-freedom-of.html

Mary Cummins

Mary Cummins of Cummins Real Estate Services has been in real estate since 1983, over 35 years. She is licensed by the Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers. Mary Cummins was an agent and broker licensed with the California Department of Real Estate selling residential income, commercial buildings, raw land and homes for Merrill Lynch Realty in Beverly Hills and Westside Properties in Los Angeles before concentrating on appraisals. Mary Cummins currently provides real estate appraisals, expert witness testimony, historical research, legal real estate research for mortgage brokers, banks, lawyers, factors, insurance companies, financial consultants and private individuals. Mary Cummins was born and raised in Southern California. Cummins attended Beverly Hills Good Shepherd Catholic School and Beverly Hills High School. Besides being on the Dean's list, Mary Cummins was a top ten national swimmer and competed on the men's water polo team. Mary Cummins began college at the age of 15 attending the University of Southern California on scholarship, majoring in Psychology/Sociology. http://www.animaladvocates.us http://www.facebook.com/AnimalAdvocatesUSA

Wednesday, September 2, 2026

Skunk with Bone Tumor, Facial Growth by Animal Advocates Mary Cummins

The Studio City coyote with the facial growth reminds us of a case we had with a skunk years ago. Skunk had a hard growth in the upper jaw area. It took us a few days to find a vet who would see and xray a wild intact skunk that would spray. The eye, nose and teeth were pushed a little out of position like this coyote. She had issues breathing, eating, drinking. We hoped it was a fleshy growth but weren't optimistic. Xray showed osteosarcoma i.e. bone cancer. Vet said he could grind some off but it'd just grow back. Her body weight was good because we were syringe feeding her. We had her euthanized while she was still under anesthesia 🙁 #skunk #osteosarcoma #bonetumor #facialtumor #animaladvocates. #marycummins #losangeles #california #coyote See less

Mary Cummins

Friday, August 28, 2026

Update on West Hollywood Construction Site Coyotes - They're Gone - Animal Advocates, Mary Cummins

We went to check on the WeHo coyotes in the abandoned construction site. They appear to be gone. Property still accessible for coyotes so they may be back. Coyotes pups were old enough to follow parents last we saw them. We saw no food though the no feed signs were gone. They added one rock so coyotes can't climb under one gate. They can still squeeze through two gates and hop the fences, walls.

We saw neighbor Beth who was interviewed for same news shows as us. She said she thinks they're gone. She said people were throwing raw chicken wings over the fence. Some left beans and fritos on a plate. Spoke with another neighbor who also thinks they're gone. Sure someone just went in there and hazed them out. Anyone could have just walked in there and shooed them out of there. Glad problem is solved for now. #coyote #wehocoyotes #westhollywoodcoyotes #constructionsite #marycummins #animaladvocates #wildliferescue

Mary Cummins

Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Daily Mail Just Highlighted Our Video Saving a Baby Squirrel - Animal Advocates, Mary Cummins

The Daily Mail just highlighted one of our baby squirrel rescue videos from 2011. Here is the link to their video.

https://www.dailymail.com/video/news/video-1743184/Video-Woman-saves-baby-squirrel-thats-young-look-itself.html

Here is the link to our full video of the resuce. It's four minutes long from start to finish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04FBoakZW7A

Mary Cummins

Monday, August 10, 2026

Jackie the Bald Eagle Has Died at Ojai Raptor Center by Animal Advocates

Jackie the Big Bear bald eagle has died. Necropsy, cause of death, veterinarian, california, eagle, fish & wildlife, san diego zoo

ORIGINAL: Everyone has heard the sad news that Jackie the bald eagle patient Bald Eagle 26-519 passed away today at Ojai Raptor Center. They announced the news August 10, 2026 at 12:28 pm. When I first noticed that her mate Shadow was doing all the chick feeding I thought something was wrong. Like many I thought she might be weak from having a second clutch and being an older eagle at 14 years of age. Average life span of bald eagles is 15-25.

When I heard news July 18 that she was rescued on the ground and ended up at Ojai Raptor Center I was relieved. We've known Ojai Raptor center for over 20 years and always refer birds of prey to them. They have a very knowledgeable staff. I knew that many raptor experts from around the country and world would be helping them with world famous Jackie.

Ojai Raptor did xrays, contrast CT Scans, bone marrow sample, daily blood draws, blood transfusion, gave medications, did a biopsy. Her packed cell volume (PCV) fell below 6%. She had kidney inflamation and had anemia. Of course after she was taken into care many people were offering care and treatment suggestions. Ojai Raptor had to turn off comments for this reason. Some comments were not very nice attacking Ojai Raptor's treatment decisions. Since Jackie has died even more people are criticizing their care.

We did a State Information Act Request to the California Department of Fish & Wildlife to get a copy of the necropsy report and all related documents, data, image and files August 10, 2026 at 1:00 pm. They are probably doing the necropsy today if not tomorrow just like they did with P-22. As soon as we get this information we will post it here. It'll probably take at least 30 days for full toxicology and report. Hopefully this report and information will give us some answers and closure. We did the same with P22. It took seven months for them to finish that necropsy report. We've done necropsies on many other wildife who have died. The purpose is education to help other animals. Ojai Raptor is not doing the necropsy. It's being done by the San Diego Zoo Alliance.

We'd like to preface this next paragraph by stating we are not bird of prey veterinarians. While we have rescued and treated wild mammals for over 20 years we are not avian experts. We have a protocol for treating ill and injured animals including wildlife. Here is that protocol linked below. Keep in mind when Jackie was first found on the ground she was dehydrated, emaciated and weak. She was instantly put in an ICU ward. Many people have asked us our take on the care of Jackie. I have deferred to Ojai Raptor as I am not a bird expert and have never seen the patient.

https://animaladvocatesmarycummins.blogspot.com/2025/02/how-to-care-for-extremely-emaciated.html

Some have criticized Ojai Raptor because of the many invasive tests they did some of which necessitated that Jackie be put under anesthesia multiple times which can be stressful and dangerous. They also criticized the fact that she was treated for illnesses which they were not 100% certain she had. She was given a few different types of medications for rodenticide poisoning, lead poisoning...before they had the results of the lead test. We can definitely state that we'd never want to take care of a famous wild animal. There is so much stress to do everything you can to save the animal while doing what's best for the animal especially when they had no clear diagnosis. We ordered the necropsy so everyone can see the facts of the case and come to their own conclusion.

We will have the necropsy report soon enough. We personally feel Jackie probably died of a combination of her age and having two clutches in quick succession while having to fight off other eagles in her territory. We doubt it's rodenticide because bald eagle's mainly eat fish then small mammals and other birds. The lead test already came back negative so it wasn't lead. Maybe there were some underlying toxins in her system or possibly even blood cancer. We won't know until we see the necropsy.

Ojai Raptor Center just posted a page about Jackie and her treatment August 11, 2026 at 2:30 pm.

https://www.ojairaptorcenter.org/patient-26519

California Department of Fish & Wildlife release news about Jackie August 11, 2026 at 12:30 pm.

https://wildlife.ca.gov/News/Archive/state-officials-and-wildlife-partners-provide-update-on-beloved-bald-eagle-known-as-jackie

"Following a necropsy performed by veterinary pathologists at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, the eagle’s remains will be transported to the National Eagle Repository, a one-of-a-kind facility operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Office of Law Enforcement."

A related note. There are a ton of fake Jackie veterinary photos floating around. They're AI. Only the ones in the Ojai Raptor page are real. There are also a ton of sites selling Jackie tshirts saying they will give money to Ojai. They are all fake. Ojai isn't selling any Jackie shirts. They are not working with any organization or business to sell Jackie shirts. Only buy items from Ojai Raptor's store https://www.ojairaptorcenter.org/shop or Friends of Big Bear Valley https://friendsofbigbearvalley.org/product-category/shopping Better yet make your own tribute shirt and donate to wildlife rehabilitators.

Mary Cummins

Monday, August 3, 2026

Facebook AI Mistakenly Makes Ojai Raptor's Post a Violation and Restricts over 50,000 accounts

Meta, Facebook, artificial intelligence, AI, mistake, error, cybersecurity, false, terms of service, violation, Ojai Raptor Center, Jackie, bald eagle

UPDATE: August 20, 2026 all restrictions fully lifted. It's as if the violation never happened. No apology, no explanation, just gone. Turns out the restrictions weren't even real. We tried one of the appliacations for the hell of it before August 20 and it worked. 30 days later and it's over. Still a horrible mistake by Facebook robot AI. I hope they learned from it so it doesn't happen again. People still probably lost $1,000,000 in lost revenue. Oddly enough the ads still ran on all those pages who couldn't monetize off the ads themselves.

ORIGINAL: July 20, 2026 Ojai Raptor Center posted about Jackie the ill Big Bear bald eagle. Thousands upon thousands shared the post above. Within a few minutes Facebook's Artificial Intelligence Terms of Service monitor robot stated it was a "cybersecurity threat." They removed the post and restricted Ojai Raptor and the account of every single person who shared the post. The post is a photo of an eagle roosting with the text "Adult Bald Eagle 26-519 arrived at Ojai Raptor Center as a transfer from San Dimas Raptor Rescue, after being found grounded and unable to fly. Weak and vulnerable, the"

People appealed the violation. Some had their accounts reinstated while others did not. Those that didn't contacted support and appealed the restriction. Support stated the post was a cybersecurity violation and refused to reinstate it. Some were able to get their accounts reinstated after talking to a live person. Keep in mind you have to pay $14 a month to talk to a live person or get real support. You never talk to a live person but a chat bot so who knows if it's live or not. Some still didn't get their accounts reinstated. Some live people said there was nothing they could do after AI flagged it. Then what's the point of a review or appeal? Same post but many different people treated very differently, discriminatory treatment.

Clearly Facebook AI Artificial Intelligence, support, personal support and the Meta verified subscriber system do not work. Ojai just got their monetization restored 14 days later. I bet they lost at least a few hundred thousand dollars in donation when Facebook restricted them right as their eagle patient Jackie went viral all over the world. Many other nonprofit pages shared their post. They were also restricted and lost money. Facebook, Meta make money off those shares and donations so they also lost money. Not only that but they pissed off a lot of people. People are now talking about moving away from Facebook if their monetization can be ended over such stupid mistakes.

I suggest stand alone ad accounts on your own website, blog, videos, photos. YouTube also has monetization as does Google Blogger. If you make money off of Facebook, I suggest moving your content to your own website where you control it. Just link to Facebook. Don't allow Facebook to make money off your content especially if you aren't making any money like me.

If you're a Facebook verified subscriber, I suggest you cancel your account. You are wasting $14/month. They promise you you'll speak to a live person and get direct support. You don't get any different support. There is no live person. It's just AI. The AI "person" merely types "there's nothing I can do. The decision was already made." Then what is the point of contacting support if they can't change the decision of an AI robot? Clearly the promise of personalized support is a lie.

Below is Ojai Raptor's response to the crazy restriction. Over 14,000 likes on the post. There are a ton of comments in which people stated same thing happened to them.

Meta, Facebook, artificial intelligence, AI, mistake, error, cybersecurity, false, terms of service, violation, Ojai Raptor Center, Jackie, bald eagle

Here are some Facebook community notes about the issue. Notes have been posted on the post.

Meta, Facebook, artificial intelligence, AI, mistake, error, cybersecurity, false, terms of service, violation, Ojai Raptor Center, Jackie, bald eagle

Here is the lower part of the post that was removed. Still not a cybersecurity violation. The only link is for networkforgood.com Networkforgood works with Facebook. "networkforgood acts as an intermediary payment processor for Facebook fundraisers by distributing donations via a Donor Advised Fund (DAF) when a nonprofit is not directly signed up with Facebook Payments." Facebook allows networkforgood.

Here is a post our page made about the restrictions. Our page doesn't monetize and the other restrictions didn't affect us but it was still bothersome. Oddly enough my personal page still has a restriction even though I never shared the post myself personally. Only Animal Advocates shared the post yet the violation is totally gone from the AA account. Truly mind boggling mistakes by Facebook. Online computer technology is supposed to be their specialty but clearly it is not. If they are making mistakes with their AI robots, where else are they making mistakes?

Meta, Facebook, artificial intelligence, AI, mistake, error, cybersecurity, false, terms of service, violation, Ojai Raptor Center, Jackie, bald eagle

UPDATE: 08/20/2026 And just like that 30 days later all the violations from all the accounts are gone. There actually were no restrictions on the accounts. There was just a text that said there were restrictions. Admitting their guilt, an apology would have been nice but I'll take it. Still, what a hassle over such a stupid mistake by Facebook.

Mary Cummins

Tuesday, July 28, 2026

Coyote Pack Residing in Condo Construction Site in West Hollywood by Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates

Today we were at 939 N Spaulding in West Hollywood, California. A pack of coyotes has taken over the condo construction project which has been idle since 2022 or 2024. There are gaps in and under the fencing where coyotes can easily enter the property. People are leaving cat food and water for the coyotes.

Our goal is to talk to the owner to consult them on humane nuisance wildlife control. As I look at the building plans here are my suggestions. It may be too difficult to fence the coyotes out as coyotes can climb eight foot fences. It may be easier to block their entrance to most of the building. I suggest gating the entrance to the subterranean garage. I suggest using plywood to block off the one set of stairs leading from first to second floor. Coyotes will then be limited to only the ground floor. It may be possible to use fencing or plywood to block off the first floor where it's open. I'd also suggest doing a better job with the current perimeter fence so they can't climb over it, through it or under it. We obviously use fencing to keep coyotes in their enclosures. If we can keep them in, we can keep them out. I suggest an angled lip, extension arm on the top of the fencing angled out. I also suggest an angled piece on the bottom of the fencing so they can't crawl under it. They can add extra fencing pieces at the gates so they overlap and there's no space in between. Cost of each project should be considered. Reinforcing the fencing may be cheaper than blocking the building.

I'd really have to look inside the building to come up with a better plan. I'm going off the building plans. After doing that work the coyotes will be long gone from the activity and hopefully not be able to come back. I'd suggest some security trail cameras to see if the plan is successful. There are gate companies and companies that board up vacant buildings that can help. We'd come up with a plan for free but obviously we can't afford to pay for fencing or plywood. We just sent a more detailed plan to the city of WeHo.

We saw an adult coyote resting at the property. We didn't see the three juvenile coyotes which others have seen.

We were interviewed by CBS, NBC and KCAL 9 news. We were mentioned in a news article. https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/west-hollywood-coyotes-condo-complex-romaine-street-spaulding-avenue/ We were in a very short snippet in the news teaser here https://www.nbclosangeles.com/video/news/local/coyotes-take-over-abandoned-construction-site-in-west-hollywood/3922939 Another ABC 7 Los Angeles https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/west-hollywood-requiring-property-owner-042744200.html

One good quote "Mary Cummins with Animal Advocates said coyotes generally do not pose a threat to people.

"No, coyotes don't attack humans. Their main prey is small animals. It's generally California ground squirrels, gophers, chipmunks and bunnies," Cummins said.

Cummins said there are safe ways to encourage the animals to leave the area.

"The best way to get them to move out of this area is to exclude and deter. By exclude, I mean we make it so they can't go under, over, or through the fencing. And to deter is, after we've excluded them from the fencing, we go inside, and we deter them by basically hazing and scaring them out. We leave one exit for them, and we herd them all in that direction, and we get them all out of the building. And then we secure that one last gate," she said.

Wildlife experts said the coyotes are not a danger to humans, but residents are encouraged to keep small pets inside."

Response from the City of West Hollywood. They told the owner to contact a humane nuisance wildlife control officer to make a plan to deal with the situation.
https://www.weho.org/Home/Components/News/News/12218/

Property information main legal address 939 N. Spaulding. APN 5530-024-024. Addresses 939-941, 949-953. It was originally multifamily multibuildings on three lots. It sold for $1,600,000 as a tear down project to build condos. Architect John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects. Other address is 7732 Romaine Street. It has four affordable housing units, i.e. Includes units designated for very-low-, low-, and moderate-income households. There are two levels of subterranean parking.

2018 article about the project https://la.urbanize.city/post/four-story-22-unit-condo-development-planned-west-hollywood

Here are the plans for the building
https://weho.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=&event_id=1075&meta_id=156744

Property is owned by 939 N Spaulding Ventures LLC, 922 E Green St, Pasadena, California. The corporation is run by Paul Lee service agent, Leo Chan and David Trunzo. Clement Tung is also related to the property. The property is in default of property taxes $50,000 per year and has a mechanic lien. The loan is not in default. It's owned by a private party. Original loan was $2,000,000 in 2020. It is now $16,000,000 and may cover more than one property. Sounds like funding and construction just fell apart. Click to see larger. The last deed filed was from 2020. It was signed by David Anthony Trunzo notarized in China.

The project is called the Spaulding Condos. JFK Architects. It's 22 units on floor stories. It should look like the below photo when finished. The contractor was https://www.dwellingconstruction.com/ who hasn't been involved in many years.