Animal officer in dog house

Los Angeles County officials are investigating allegations that the county's animal-care director obstructed justice by instructing some employees to delete e-mails during an audit by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, county Chief Executive Officer Bill Fujioka said Monday. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

Fujioka said he asked the County Counsel's Office to review the allegations after meeting recently with an animal-rights activist who blogs about alleged abuses of animals at county shelters.

Blog operator Ryan Olshan produced an e-mail dated Oct. 4, 2007, and purportedly written by Department of Animal Care & Control Director Marcia Mayeda, Fujioka said.

The e-mail instructs four employees to delete e-mails while the county was under investigation for not complying with euthanasia recordkeeping practices.