Photos: A proliferation of dogs in downtown L.A.

A man, left, keeps a tight leash on Monkey, who takes a keen interest in another dog on 6th Street. The man, who requested anonymity, said he lives downtown.
See full story  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

A dog is taken for a walk on 6th Street near Spring Street. A growing number of people say downtown’s canine population has reached critical mass.
See full story  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

David Alexander, right, crosses the intersection of 6th and Spring streets with his two dogs, Mr. French, a bulldog, closest to camera, and Bentley, a toy fox terrier. Alexander was heading home to his loft on Spring Street.
See full story  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Charra Cook walks Norman, an English bulldog, on 7th Street near Spring Street. Cook lives in a loft on 7th.
See full story  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Tommy Johnson, 27, looks on as Sarg, a boxer, relieves himself on the side of a building on 6th Street. In the foreground is his other dog, Shelty, a shepherd mix.
See full story  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Joe Rubacka, left, his sister, Samantha Kuntz, and her husband, Michael Kuntz, walk along Spring Street with the Kuntzes’ dog, Georgie. Just a few years ago, the proliferation of dogs was heralded as proof that a certain Westside hipness had arrived in the city’s central core.
See full story  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Horace Rogers places a plastic bag in a strategic spot as his dog Jacque, a French mastiff, relieves himself on Spring Street.
See full story  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Richard Wright takes his dog Scrappy, a Chihuahua/bulldog mix, for a walk on Spring Street. Wright lives in a loft nearby.
See full story  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

For their bathroom breaks, Daryl Critten takes Fizzgig, a beagle/spaniel mix, left, and Ginger, a basenji/pit bull mix, to a patch of grass off an alley near 6th Street, between Spring Street and Main Street.
See full story  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

A pooch relieves himself on the side of a building on Spring Street. The Downtown Center Business Improvement District has launched a small marketing campaign imploring owners to “practice good downtown dog etiquette.”
See full story  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Vaughn Blake walks Annie Hall, a pit bull/Rottweiler mix, near his loft on 4th Street.
See full story  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Walking along 6th Street in downtown L.A., a bulldog passes a sidewalk sign for Flea, a vintage clothing and furniture shop.
See full story  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Cristina Fuentes is assistant director and pet sitter at Bark Avenue, a doggy day-care facility on Main Street. Here she kisses Kody, who’s a year and a half old.
See full story  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)