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Virtually Pets
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Nightingale (left) and Noddy (right)
This and all kitten-season columns are dedicated to Nightingale and Noddy, two newborn kittens who were taken to the shelter when their nursing mother was hunting for food. The couple said that they’d tried unsuccessfully for three years to trap the mother but ignored our offers to send an experienced trapper to their home to prevent more kittens from being born. Just a couple of squirmy little nothings-that-matters, I guess.
Bottle-feeding fosters from Helen Sanders CatPAWS fought like the moms they were subbing for. Sadly, their live-saving efforts ultimately failed. This story has been having multiple sequels every day. Some of them end with the kittens thriving and getting adopted, others end in defeat, in disappointment or en masse in the euthanasia chamber. Most of the feline-euthanasia numbers at Long Beach Animal Care Services (ACS) represent neonatal kittens.
Even though it isn’t close to zero, there’s been a steady annual drop in all euthanasia procedures for neonatals at ACS and in other shelters. That’s thanks in full to a strong community: shelter staff, rescues, fosters and just goodhearted people. (Read about a perfect example here.) And with all the baby kittens that Helen Sanders CatPAWS rescues, there are great success stories (we have one—she’s now 6 years old and as big as the sofa). Here are CatPAWS’s latest housecats-in-waiting—Ruffles, Cheeto and Frita (the person who named them had the munchies at the time). Each is 8 weeks old and nearly ready for adoption. To adopt any (or all) of them, fill out an application here or contact adoptions@HelenSandersCatPAWS.com.
Ruffles is the mellowest of the kittens, although he was the first to talk and hasn’t stopped since. He loves to be held and snuggled. He’s great with the foster’s small dog, too, and loves the family’s two adult cats.
Cheeto appears very bonded to his sister, Frita. He wasn’t into being held at first, but as his personality emerges, he’s enjoying his hobby of lap sitting. He’s not goofy about the dog (they’re working on it) but is good with the adult cats.
Frita is the most independent girl in the bag! She’s also the bravest—always the first to try something, which the boys then follow. She’s also not crazy about dog but very good with the adult cats. Like Cheeto, she also didn’t enjoy being held at first, but she’s liking it enough now to let her foster cuddle her.
And check out all the other adoptables here and at the PetSmart Charities National Adoption Weekend, Shops at Rossmoor, 12341 Seal Beach Blvd, Seal Beach (see Things to Do, Pets to Support). They want to go home, too!
As a friend said, the problem is bigger than the solution. However, if you’re willing to keep chipping away at it, here are a few good resources. Please suggest any that I left out.
Information
Support Groups
Vouchers and Free/Low-Cost Spay Neuter
Long Beach Animal Care Services (vouchers provided by Friends of Long Beach Animals and clinic information only; the shelter’s S/N isn’t open to the public)
SNP/LA Veterinary Clinic, San Pedro (call to inquire about feral spay days)
Golden State Humane Veterinary Clinic, Long Beach
Fosters, Bottle-Feeders, Help Needed from the Community!
(CatPAWS and Little Lion to present bottle-feeding workshops)
Jellicle Cats Rescue Foundation
Long Beach Spay and Neuter Foundation
Making Biscuits Cat Adoption and Rescue
(If that seems like a lot of resources, multiply it exponentially—cats X litters X litters X litters X litters… It isn’t.)
Things to Do, Pets to Support
California Turtle and Tortoise Club Care Society Chapter’s ‘Prehistoric Pets’ Presentation
Friday, May 18, 7:30PM, University Baptist Church, 3434 Chatwin Avenue, Long Beach
Free event
Laura Brewer, manager of Fountain Valley’s Reptile Zoo, will bring the zoo to you for this entertaining meeting. Turtles and their well-behaved human guests are welcome; refreshments will be served. Turtles may move slowly, but this evening will go forth fast!
PetSmart Charities National Adoption Weekend
Friday–Sunday, around 11:00AM–3:00PM at a PetSmart near you
Free for admirers; adoption fees apply
In an effort that includes PetSmart, rescues and, of course, people who will adopt rather than shop for a new best friend, over 7 million pets have gone to homes. Join in to keep the momentum at your local PetSmart store May 18-20, 2018. Find unconditional love and inspire others to adopt their best friend by sharing your adoption story on social media, using #iadopted. More information is available here.
Furry Friends Faire
Saturday, May 19, 10:00AM–1:00PM, Los Cerritos Park, 3750 Del Mar Avenue (across from Los Cerritos Elementary School), Long Beach
Free to attend
Don’t miss our all-things-animal event! We’ll have fun contests to enter your furry friends in, such as pet tricks, largest pet, smallest pet and most unusual pet. The poetry-award winners from Los Cerritos Elementary students will be reading their poems. We’ll have an array of service providers you can meet at the event for your pets: groomers, trainers, pet food, dog walkers and more! For more information and updates, visit us here!
Fix Long Beach Free Spay/Neuter CAT! Clinic
Saturday, May 19, 7:30AM–3:00PM, Ramona Park, 3301 East 65th Street at Obispo Avenue, Long Beach
Have your CAT spayed or neutered free with appointment and qualifications; vet appointment with voucher, minimal charge for dogs and cats; flea meds $10; shots and dewormer $10 each; nail trimming, $10
Fix Long Beach thanks our shelter, Long Beach Animal Care Services (ACS), for giving us the means to sponsor this month’s clinic. The more cats that get fixed, the fewer unwanted kittens that will be put to sleep.
Putting on these events costs in the thousands, and it couldn’t happen without the generosity of our donors.
It’s now the law to fix your pets in Long Beach and many Southern California cities. To provide this costly service to our Long Beach residents who otherwise couldn’t afford it, Fix Long Beach offers this service free of charge. The spay/neuter truck will be at its new location at Ramona Park on this date. The spay/neuter procedures this month are for cats only.
Make an appointment through IM or email at info@fixlongbeach.com for your dog, and include (1) your name, (2) address, (3) phone number, (4) pet’s name, (5) age, (6) sex, (7) breed, and (8) weight, and Fix will see if they can schedule you. You can also come as a standby, but be there at 8:30AM. Make sure that your pet has had nothing to eat or drink past 10:00PM the previous night.
To donate, visit our page. In-kind donations such as leashes, collars and toys can be brought to our event or ordered through our Amazon wish list.
For both spay/neuter and vaccinations, all dogs must be on sturdy leashes and all cats must be in dedicated carriers. Fix thanks you in advance for being responsible for your pet’s health and for helping to reduce shelter overpopulation and euthanasia.
Pets Ahoy Wine Fund-Raiser for Seal Beach Animal Care Center http://www.sbacc.org
Sunday, May 20, 1:00PM–4:00PM, Seal Beach Yacht Club, 255 North Marina Drive, Long Beach
$50; proceeds help to fund SBACC
Toast the animals at SBACC with wine, soft drinks and a buffet lunch. Enjoy silent auctions, a super-opportunity drawing for a $1,000 Visa card, and the knowledge that cats and dogs at SBACC will thrive and find good homes, thanks to you! Ticket sales information is available here.
spcaLA Free Adoptions for U.S. Military Service Members
Friday, May 25, 10AM–5:30PM to Saturday, May 26, and Sunday, May 27, 10:00AM–4:00PM, spcaLA at P.D. Pitchford Companion Animal Village, 7700 East Spring Street, Long Beach
Adoptions free to military
spcaLA and Animals for Armed Forces Foundation will honor and thank our dedicated service members by providing them a new best friend, with no fees or strings attached. Active duty, reserve, and veterans of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, and National Guard as well as immediate family members all qualify; be sure to provide documentation (click the Armed Forces Foundation link for more information.
KLOS and KABC Present spcaLA Pet Adoption Day
Saturday, June 2, 10AM–5:30PM to Saturday, May 26, and Sunday, May 27, 10:00AM–4:00PM, spcaLA and ACS at P.D. Pitchford Companion Animal Village, 7700 East Spring Street, Long Beach
Adoption fees vary
Time to come to the Pitchford Companion Animal Village and get Sticky Fingers from all the kitties and puppies licking them! It’s spcaLA’s biggest adoption event of the year and a great chance to meet your new BFF! All adoption fees will be 50 percent off (the qualifications for potential adopters remain the same), and there will be vendor booths, giveaways, food trucks and other good stuff to have fun with! Wild horses couldn’t drag you away!
Fix Long Beach’s Wild, Wild West Casino Night
Saturday, June 23, 6:00PM, Cosmic Brewery, 20316 Gramercy Place, Torrance
Tickets $25, available here; includes all-you-can eat buffet, drinks and “funny money”
Git along, little doggie–uh, dogie, and we’ll lasso up some great food, drinks, sounds and lots of yee-haw fun! Your $25 will grab you a taco dinner (we have vegan options for cowpokes who don’t like to poke cows), mighty fine craft beers and handcrafted soda pop. Don’t tell the sheriff, but we’re giving you $100 in “funny money” that you can use in the ol’ saloon playing roulette, poker and blackjack. And y’all can absquatulate with some durn fine prizes from gaming and in the silent auction (you gotta spend actual tin for that). Best of all, you’ll be helping us round up pets to spay and neuter—Fix Long Beach does that for free for folks who can’t afford it–all the greenbacks you spend will be used at Fix Long Beach!
Ongoing
BARK Therapy Dogs Reading with Kids
See website for information
Founded in 2007, BARK (Beach Animals Reading with Kids) is a nonprofit all-volunteer program that encourages children to increase their reading skills and self-confidence by reading aloud to certified therapy dogs. Students sometimes find it intimidating to read in front of classmates but love to read to the non-judgmental, calming dogs. BARK now has 170 teams listening to kids in more than 100 schools and libraries in California—Long Beach libraries visited monthly are Bach, El Dorado, Bayshore, Brewitt and Los Altos; outlying-area libraries include Hawaiian Gardens, Iacoboni and Los Alamitos. BARK teams also visit nursing homes, senior living facilities and veteran centers. They even de-stress college students during finals week! For all events, check out BARK’s calendar. To find information about volunteering your furry buddy or to arrange a visit to your school, library or other community, contact the group at barkreadingdogs@aol.com or (562)235-8835.
Kitty Catchers Adoption Event
Saturdays and Sundays, 11:00AM–3:30PM both days, PetSmart, 2550 Cherry Avenue, Signal Hill
Despite the name, Kitty Catchers catches doggies, too, and some will be there along with the lovely fosters at this event! You’ll find your best friend there and anything else you’ll need to give him or her a good life from then on.
Pet Adoption Event at PFE
Saturdays and Sundays, Pet Food Express, 4220 Long Beach Boulevard, Long Beach
Adoption fees apply
Find your new BFF and everything that he or she could possibly want or need, in one place. Long Beach Animal Care Services (ACS) and other rescues bring great cats and dogs ready to go home with their new people. Everything is high quality at Pet Food Express, and that includes the adoptive pets! Check out the Cat Adoption Center, featuring fine felines from Long Beach Animal Care Services and Stray Cat Alliance. For more information about which rescues will be present on any particular day, follow this link.
SNP/LA Mobile Low-Cost Pet Vaccines
Locations and dates vary; visit link in text
For low-cost vaccines, visit this link. Note that pet owners must be 18 years or older, all pets must be on leashes or in carriers, and only healthy and non-pregnant animals will be vaccinated. Please bring prior vaccination information with you to the clinic. Vaccination and microchip services are provided for pets residing in any city. Licensing is provided for residents within our jurisdiction at Saturday clinics; please bring your renewal notice and rabies certificate with you. Low/cost spay/neuter information is also available through SNP/LA.
Free Pet Food Distributions
Papa, a big “teddy bear’ of a dog, sits with his human in Ashlee’s Pet Care station at Beacon for Him.
Beacon for Him has extended an outreach for people experiencing homelessness and their pets. Pet food, primarily dog food, is available at their facility at 439 West Anaheim Street, Mondays from 9:00AM to noon and Saturdays from noon to 3:00PM. A dog-washing station with a stainless-steel tub is also available onsite at these hours. Donations and supplies such as shampoo, flea control and, of course, pet food are always gratefully accepted.
The Pet Food Bank is sponsored by Christian Outreach in Action. COA is located at 515 E 3rd St, Long Beach. Hours are Thursday from 9:00AM to 11:00AM.
Shelter-Enrichment Supplies Needed for ACS Dogs and Cats!
Drop-off: Wednesdays through Fridays, 10:00AM–5:30PM and Saturdays and Sundays, 10:00AM–4:00PM, 7700 East Spring Street, Long Beach
Individual donations requested
ACS is continuing our kennel enrichment activities for our canine guests here and could use so more donations (there are plenty for the cats!). Here is what’s needed:
- creamy peanut butter
- yogurt
- beef broth (canned or in the box)
- chicken broth (canned or in the box)
- incense
- carabiner clips (heavy duty)
- ice cube trays
- pipe cleaners
- toilet paper/paper towel rolls
- cat toys
- corks from bottles (for cat toys)
- catnip
- canned cat and dog food
Donations are tax deductible. Our pups and kitties say thanks so much!