The Long Beach Health and Human Services Department, led by the city’s mental coordinator, Patty LaPlace, held a free inaugural Mental Health Wellness Event on Saturday, May 9 at Bixby Park, to the beat of a drumming group, relentless directives shouted by an aerobics instructors and a background of bubbles. Speakers like First Lady Nancy Foster and Health and Human Services director Ron Arias addressed participants, and there were booths featuring the services of every agency from the Mental Health Association/Village to Universal Yoga.
The reason for the fair, according to Vanessa O’Neill, a community partner who helped organize the event, was to “combine physical and mental health to show that we care about physical and mental well-being, to make people aware of resources and agencies in the community, and to show unity in the community. The word community abounds in any conversation that deals with empowering any population, and for the numbers of people dealing with mental health—which, according to a recent multiple choice poll in the Press-Telegram published May 11, is just about 75 percent of those of us unafraid or aware enough to admit it—animals are an integral part of the community.
MHF participant rescued border collie Casey with human companion Tom Jones. It’s not unusual to find purebreds in rescues and shelters. Photo by Kate Karp
Numerous studies have reported a correlation between pet guardianship and mental health. Valerie Jones, director of Village East for MHA/Village, said that animals help to alleviate loneliness and isolation, provide constant companionship, and exercise—frolicking with your dog at our dog beaches and parks or chasing the cat around the house to put the Advantage between his or her shoulder blades. Animal companionship leads to integration into the community and feeling better in general. Sometimes, they go above and beyond; Jones recalled a patient who became disoriented, and her dog directed her home.
“People will have something to care for who depend on them,” Jones said. “We see to it that people will be able to care for the animals. We work closely with animal-associated groups to provide care and animal needs.” The psychiatrist who works with the MHA/Village has written letters on the part of tenants to landlords to request an exception to the “no pets” rule (Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973). Jones said that both pets and caregivers are screened and that there’s a support system to help provide for the pet.
Therapy Dogs International had a booth at the fair. So did Long Beach Animal Care Services, who teamed up with Animal Match Rescue Team (AMRT) and brought kittens and small dogs for adoption (see below). Although we’d contend that adoption into a loving home will provide as much mental health for the pet as it will for the person, comedienne Lynda Montgomery, who is also part of the AMRT team, is more phlegmatic about the state of an animal’s mind and its balance compared to that of humans.
“If a person has a handicap, we notice it,” she said. “A dog won’t, even on another dog whose butt he’s sniffing.”
“You’ve got a friend.”
—Carole King
Photo by Louise Montgomery
Photo by Kate Karp
These kittens, sleeping the sleep of the innocent, spent Mother’s Day in a cage after both they and their mother were owner-released to ACS. The kittens are available for adoption at the Companion Animal Village, 7700 E. Spring St., Long Beach. “Animals are good companions in general,” said ACO Heidi Poe, seen here holding the kittens.
ACO Poe likes dogs, too, and watch out, Judy—that’s all you need! Photos by Louise Montgomery
Top from left, Lynda Montgomery of AMRT and Carol Stern, AMRT president. Seated, AMRT’s Louise Montgomery. Held in loving arms–small dogs. All dogs in these photos may be adopted to loving homes through AMRT. Photo by Kate Karp.
Random Clawings
Please join us at the May 19 Long Beach City Council meeting at Long Beach City Hall at 5 p.m. to support four animal legislation bills. More to come.
Animal Match Rescue Team needs temporary foster homes for their dogs. Contact Louise at (562) 897-5282 if you are able to provide short-term care for a dog who weighs less than 15 pounds.
Ongoing Pet Food Drive at Neighborhood Resource Center
The Neighborhood Resource Center in tandem with Food Finders is collecting both pet and people food for needy families. Bring what you can to the NRC office at 425 Atlantic Ave., (562) 570-1010.