The Scratching Post is a weekly newsletter from pets columnist Kate Karp, bringing you all the latest news on pet adoptions, animal welfare and ways to get involved.


Find your way around the shelter at KLOS Pet Adoption Day—and wish Staycee Dains the best

This Saturday, June 10, the shelters at Long Beach Animal Care Services and spcaLA will hold their yearly mammoth adoption event: the KLOS Pet Adoption Day (see events section). You can visit with adoptable cats, dogs and rabbits, and find out how to foster one if you’re not ready to adopt (being a foster can change your mind about adopting, one way or another). You can get a goodie bag if you take a pet home, chat with a DJ, and hopefully figure out which section is the city shelter—Long Beach Animal Care Services—and which is the private rescue spcaLA. If you can do that, you’ll be able to figure out any escape room.

You can also thank the volunteers and staff who deserve awards for what they do. You can meet all the new shelter hires as well as the interim director after shelter manager Staycee Dains departs for Los Angeles Animal Care on June 30. If you come, please bid Staycee farewell and thank her for all the stuff she’s done at the shelter, which you can read about in this article. Staycee’s ride here in Long Beach hasn’t always been an easy one, but going into a huge system like LA’s from Long Beach might be like removing training wheels from the bike and plunging into a triathlon. But Staycee has the DNA and the props for this job. Please wish her luck. She and the animals in the beleaguered Los Angeles city shelters—there are six of them—deserve the best they can get.

Adoptable pets

One immutable factor of our shelter through decades of varying management is the volunteer team. Some of the individuals have been here through three directorships. They do more than walk dogs and clean litter boxes—they socialize and love the pets, talk to potential adopters to see who’d match well, get cheesed off over abuse and abandonment, cry over the sick and dying, stress over the ones who’ve been here too long, and would throw confetti when there’s a long-awaited adoption, except that they’d have to pick it up.

In honor of the staff and volunteers, here’s an intro to a few of the animals who owe their lives and (acquired) social skills to them. They need to go home, whether a foster or forever.

Steadman (ID #A674834) just “celebrated” his one-year shelterversary. Really, this is no reason to celebrate. He’s been waiting for a very long time in a kennel for his forever person to find him, and a kennel, no matter how loving the volunteers, is no place for an active husky. Steadman is about 4 years old and weighs 70 pounds. He’ll love you unconditionally in exchange for your commitment to his husky spirit, his energy level, his big fur and his constant talking. His loves, besides you, are long walks, toys and a splash in the water. He’s such a good boy! Please come get him.

Pineapple (ID #A695717) is so named not because of a prickly disposition (which she doesn’t have) but her inner sweetness. Pineapple was one of 14 cats rescued from a hoarding situation in a studio apartment. She’s 5 years old and is getting over her shyness. She loves any attention she can get. Pineapple would love to be your princess—she’s a cat from Long Beach on display at the Paw Shoppe Pet Center, 6416 E. Spring St., Long Beach.

Verity (ID# A696048) is another beautiful cat whom you can meet in person. At 3 years old, Verity has birthed her last kitten. She’s been fixed, and the facial injuries she’d had have been beautifully healed through surgery. She adores being pet and wiggles all over the place when you do it. The volunteers say that she’s an absolutely loving, purring doll.

You can meet the cats in person at the Paw Shoppe Pet Center, a few blocks from Long Beach Animal Care Services, where our shelter regularly gets permission to feature pets. Steadman the husky is in our shelter, and so are a ton of dogs, cats and a rabbit or two. Shelter hours are Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., at 7700 E. Spring St. at the entrance to El Dorado Park (no parking fee for shelter visitors). You can email [email protected] to speed the process for adopting or fostering. Check them all out here.

Pet events

KLOS Pet Adoption Day: Saturday, June 10, 10 a.m.–3 p.m., Long Beach Animal Care Services, 7700 E. Spring St. at entrance to El Dorado Park (no parking fee for shelter visitors), Long Beach, special $20 adoption fees. Free gift bags go to everyone who goes home with a pet.

Join KLOS DJs for the biggest adoption event of the year. Dogs, cats and bunnies from Long Beach Animal Care Services and spcaLA will vie for a place in your home and heart as the music plays on and the games and raffles roll.

Sound Healing with Cats: Friday, July 28, 5:30 p.m.–6:30 p.m., July 28, Feline Good Social Club, 201 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach, $30. Tickets available here.

Sound healing uses ancient instruments to create frequencies that revitalize the mind, body, and spirit. It’s the second-best healing you can have for your body and spirit, the first thing being multiple cats purring loudly by your side. Guess what! You can have both at this event. You’ll feel rejuvenated and calm after the sounds of kitten purrs and healing vibrations wash away stress and tension. Keep in mind that you’ll be lying down during the event. The Club recommends bringing a yoga mat, blanket, pillow, water bottle or anything else you need to be comfortable, and wear loose and comfortable clothing.

Second Annual Long Beach Summer Adoption and Craft Fair: Saturday and Sunday, July 8 and 9, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Marina Green Park, 386 E. Shoreline Dr., Long Beach. Free to attend, adoption fees apply.

Practically every rescue within the reach of Long Beach will be at this great event, so if you’re looking for your best friend forever and ever, you have no excuse to not shop but adopt! Of course, you’ll want to shop at the vendor booths! Stay tuned for more info.

To see a list of local animal rescue groups, click here. 

Editor’s note: This newsletter has been updated to correct the date of the adoption event.