Virtually Pets
May 19’s Scratching Post centered around Melody, one of several mother dogs allegedly separated from their puppies at the shelter at too early an age and brought into the spcaLA facility next door.
I don’t make a secret out of my support for Animal Care Services (ACS) and the pets housed there—or anywhere, but that article had to be written. And I make a practice of featuring the adoptable animals there—never met one that wasn’t. But it’s what one of the people quoted in the article about independent rescues pulling pets from ACS and scrambling for rescuers and adoptive parents—not to mention funds to keep going—without any recompense except for their own passionate devotion that inspires me to show them in my humble column. Emily Haden and her Live Love rescue deserve it. If you can’t adopt, donate. Or do both.
To adopt any of these good dogs, hit the Meet and Greet button on this link. Also, these little pup-pups need supplies! Please aid in their caretaking by purchasing an item or two on the Live Love Pet Care & Animal Rescue Puppy Amazon Wishlist.
Of course, Melody opens the roll call of wet noses. Melody was spayed a couple of days ago from the shelter, and she’s so friendly. Click this link to watch a video of her rescue and how sweet and happy she is.
Alana is a very sweet, loving girl. She is 5 years old and was saved just in the nick of time from ACS. She loves everyone she meets but especially loves men. She shows no aggression, but she needs a quiet place to heal and build confidence. A few of her favorite things are car rides, treats, hugs and couch cuddles. She’s an ideal best friend because she knows when it’s time to be jumping for joy and when it’s time for an understanding nuzzle. We are learning that Alana lacks confidence when walking on a leash, so she does need some patience and training there. Alana would be best in a home with big dogs—no small dogs, no cats, no small children. Our ideal person would be an active individual with a calm environment to offer.
WireyHeadScraggleMuffin and FuzzBucketLittleTail (properly named by Live Love’s Chief Creative Officer Sam Ghosh) were intercepted before being turned in to ACS. They were born to a semi-feral mom and were the last of a litter of five. When the former owner couldn’t find a home for these two, they brought them and the mom to the shelter. Thanks to our friends at, Animal Resource Team (ART) the mama has been spayed and placed in a home. and these two are safe with us! The brother and sister duo has begun their routine vet care and are growing quickly. They’re little bundles of personality, love and fun!
Mark Your Calendars (the People Way)
Friends of Long Beach Animals ‘ (FOLBA) Student Essay/Poetry Contest
Entries accepted until June 1; email entries to deborah@folba.org
Free to enter
If you know a young person who has a passion for animal welfare, this competition is a great way to start him or her on the path to communicating the importance of it to others. This year’s theme, “Be Kind to Animals,” is open to students in two categories, and cash prizes of $100 for first place, $50 for second place and $25 for third place will be offered for each category. Each entry may be no more than 250 words and one page in length; only one entry per student will be accepted. Be sure to include the following: first and last names, home address, phone number, grade level and school name (indicate if homeschooled).
All winners will receive award certificates, and all participants will receive certificates of participation. Winners will be contacted by June 10 and will be invited to read their essay or poem at the FOLBA membership meeting on Thursday, June 16. Winning essays and poems will be published on the FOLBA website.
Finn, 2016 champion of the Wienerschnitzel Wiener Nationals. Photo courtesy of Los Alamitos Race Course
2016 Wienerschnitzel Wiener Nationals Call for Entrants
Entries accepted until June 6; entry info in text
Free to enter
We’re looking for the fastest dog in the West and it could be your furry (or smooth-coated) four-legged friend! The 21st annual event will be held on Saturday, July 16, and will benefit the Seal Beach Animal Care Center. Participants will be selected from among the entries received. To enter your doxie, tell us why he or she should be in the Wiener Nationals. Please make the letter as creative as possible—creativity rather than speed counts here—and if you’ve been to the races, you’ll know what we mean! You can send us a drawing, a poem, an essay or a funny photo, or send us a link to your wiener doggie’s social medium—Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, etc.–a video link or a DVD. Entries will be returned at your request. Make sure you include your phone number and a photograph of your prized pooch!
Contact us through email at LARace@LosAlamitos.com, through this link or by snail mail at 2016 Weiner Nationals, c/o Los Alamitos Race Course, 4961 Katella Avenue, Los Alamitos 90720.
Presentation by California Turtle and Tortoise Club Care Society, Long Beach Chapter
Friday, May 20, 7:30PM, University Baptist Church, 3434 Chatwin Avenue, Long Beach
Free event
Humans and tortoises of all ages are welcome to Tonya Moore’s presentation of “Desert Tortoise Location—Behind the Scenes.” Show and Tell always welcome!
Fix Long Beach Spay/Neuter Clinic, dogs only for spay/neuter; cats and dogs welcome for shots and microchips. This month’s clinic is generously sponsored by the Second and Third districts
Saturday, May 21, 7:30AM–4:00PM, Houghton Park, 6500 Atlantic Avenue (near Jordan High), Long Beach
Free to qualifying residents
The grassroots free spay/neuter organization Fix Long Beach invites you to make an appointment for your unfixed dog, or get vouchers for free procedures for them! These clinics are generously sponsored through Hope for Paws and Eldad Hagar.
Guidelines for FLB clinics are as follows:
- Low-income Long Beach residents only unless you have a pit bull! (We offer free spay/neuter for pitties in surrounding cities.) If you don’t qualify (annual salary $30,000 or lower), please Google “low cost spay/neuter” along with your zip code, and have your pet fixed at one of the suggested clinics.
- Book an appointment ASAP. Standbys are welcome. Vouchers will be given to any attendee whose pet cannot be served that day.
- If you have called or made a previous appointment, please check your voice mail for messages (be sure that it’s set up). You must call back to confirm your appointment or your spot will be given away.
- If you are 15 minutes late for your appointment, your spot will be given to someone waiting on standby. If you fail to show up for two consecutive appointments, you will be denied future service.
Fix Long Beach also offers the following services from 9AM–4PM:
- low-cost vaccines for dogs and cats $10 per shot, cash only!
- low-cost flea meds for dog and cats $10 per dose/application, cash only!
- nail trim $5, cash only!
- free microchips for pets of Long Beach residents
- free supplies for anyone that gets their pets fixed!
For more information or to schedule an appointment, call (323) 413-7729
When you come, bring proof of income and Long Beach residency (these events are for Long Beach residents only.) Whether you come as standby or with an appointment, do not give your pet anything to eat or drink after 12:01AM. Dogs must be on leashes and cats must be in carriers that are specifically pet carriers! No paper bags or suitcases, please! There are no walls in the park, and we want you to ensure your pet’s safety! If you don’t own a carrier, pet supply stores like Petco and PetSmart carry inexpensive cardboard ones; they run on the average of $8.
Fix Long Beach also has a wish list for pet items to give to our client as a thank-you for helping to lower our shelter euthanasia rate and prevent the birth of more unwanted kittens and puppies.
Click the link to donate items, or bring them to the event if you find a better deal!
Let’s continue to help make Long Beach no kill, one pet at a time!
Stray Cat Alliance ‘Wine and Whiskers’ Event
Saturday, May 21, 3:00PM–5:30PM, DomaineLA, 6801 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles
$50 donation
If you walked in the paw prints of any of these animal rescuers, you’d understand why there are all these events featuring wine. Stray Cat Alliance has booties on the ground for all cats who are homeless, abandoned or stray. All proceeds benefit SCA’s lifesaving programs for cats.
spcaLA May Foster Class
Saturday, May 21; 10:00AM–noon, spcaLA PD Pitchford Companion Animal Village and Education Center, 7700 East Spring Street, Long Beach
Free event—spcaLA provides all the supplies. Foster parents provide the home and the TLC.
Want to help pets? Become a foster parent by submiting an application and attending a foster class. Application available here. Please call 323-730-5300 x300 for more info. We can’t do it without you!
Friends of Long Beach Animals ‘ Sixth annual Hounds on the Hill Event
Saturday, May 28, 11:00AM–2:00PM, Signal Hill Park, 2175 Cherry Avenue, Long Beach
Free
Join Friends of Long Beach Animals for a terrific pet-friendly event that features contests, live music, demonstrations, children’s activities, pet adoptions, and vendors of pet supplies and accessories as well as a low-cost pet-vaccination and microchip clinic. At that hour, you won’t see the sun going down, but the eyes in your head will be delighted.
Pet Food Express Pet Adoptions
Saturday, June 4, 11:00AM–3:00PM, 4220 Long Beach Blvd, Long Beach
Adoption fees apply
Find your latest BFF at this beautiful store with a heart for adoptive animals. You can also spoil him or her rotten there, with everything they can possibly need. Check out the Cat Adoption Center while you’re there!
10th Annual Seal Beach Animal Care Center Wine Event
Saturday, June 11 7:00PM–10:00PM, North Seal Beach Center, 3333 St. Cloud Drive, Seal Beach
$40 per person donation
Raise a cup of kindness for our delightful pets! There will be good food and auctions as well. Registration information is available here; all proceeds go to the all-volunteer Seal Beach Animal Care Center.
spcaLA’s Pet Adoption Day
Saturday, June 11, 10AM–4:00PM, Pitchford Companion Animal Village and Education Center, 7700 Spring Street, Long Beach
Free event; adoption fees apply
This is our biggest pet adoption event of the year! Enjoy a day of sunshine and pet adoptions, meet-and-greets with 95.5 KLOS’s Frank and Lisa May and KABC Drive Home’s Jillian Barberi and John Phillips, vendor booths, adoption specials, giveaways, food trucks and family fun. And very likely a meeting with your new best friend!
Divas for Doggies (and Kitties, Too) Drag Show Fund-Raiser
Sunday, June 25, 3:00PM–6:00PM, Hamburger Mary’s Long Beach, 330 Pine Avenue, Long Beach
$5 donation
Glitter for the pets! Anderson Real Estate Group is putting on a drag-show fund-raiser at Hamburger Mary’s to benefit spcaLA hosted by the one and only Jewels. Proceeds from the donations and silent auction will benefit the spcaLA P. D. Pitchford Companion Animal Village & Education Center in Long Beach.
Ongoing
Long Beach Animal Care Services (ACS): Free Spay/Neuter and Wellness Clinics, once monthly; Low-Cost Vaccination Clinics, scheduled days Monthly. Locations vary.
See flyer on web page for pricing of services
Beginning this Sunday, February 21, the Society for California Veterinary and Vaccine Care (SCVVC) will offer free spay/neuter procedures and wellness services to residents of the cities served by ACS: Long Beach, Signal Hill, Cerritos, Los Alamitos and Seal Beach. During the remaining weeks of the month, Spay/Neuter Project Los Angeles (SNP/LA) will offer low-cost vaccines, nail trimmings and topical flea treatment for residents of the same areas. Click link for locations and times and click the links next to each event for vaccine pricing and other details.
Pet owners must be 18 years or older. All pets must be on leashes or in carriers. Only healthy and non-pregnant animals will be vaccinated. If you have a prior rabies vaccine certificate, license tag or license renewal notice for your pet, please bring it with you to the clinic. Vaccination and microchip services are provided for pets residing in any city. Licensing service is provided for residents within our jurisdiction:. Microchips, flea treatment and nail trimmings also available.
Reserve a Humane Education Presentation for Your Classroom, Scout Troop or Anywhere That Pets and Kids Come Together
spcaLA Friends for Life Summer Camp
June through August, Monday through Friday; Pitchford Companion Animal Village, 7700 E. Spring Street, Long Beach
Details on website
Paws down, it’s the best camp around! spcaLA Friends for Life Summer Camp™ is for kids 8 through 13 years old. At camp, kids learn the basics of pet care and responsibility, respect for all animals, and the beginnings of dog training, all while making new friends on a number of legs! There are several sessions still available, each running Monday through Friday. Registration details and session schedule are available here.