Marcia Mayeda
Director of Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control

Marcia Mayeda is the Director of the County of Los Angeles' Department of Animal Care and Control. The department is the largest animal control agency in the country, serving 50 cities and all the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County. The department impounded over 85,000 animals last year, employs 325 staff and operates on a $25 million budget.

Before being selected by the Board of Supervisors to head the animal control department, Mayeda was director of community outreach for Humane Society of Santa Clara Valley in Santa Clara, California. In that capacity, she was in charge of the society's animal cruelty investigations, education, animal behavior, advocacy and shelter volunteer programs.

She also previously was director of the society's animal shelter and field operations and was responsible for the housing and medical care for the more than 40,000 animals housed annually by the society. Her duties also included animal licensing operations, animal control activities, and contract negotiations with the cities that used the society for animal care and control services.

Before going to work for the Humane Society of Santa Clara Valley, Mayeda was the executive director of the Helping Hands Humane Society in Topeka, Kansas. She was responsible for the society's operations, fiscal management, planning and personnel and managed its contract with the City of Topeka and the outlying region served by the society.

Mayeda has a bachelor's of science degree in animal sciences from Western Illinois University and a master's degree in nonprofit management from the University of San Francisco. She is also a Certified Animal Welfare Administrator. She and her husband Vincent share their lives with a rescued yellow Labrador Retriever, two rescued Great Pyrenees dogs and a beautiful Shire gelding.

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