{"id":2086,"date":"2016-01-28T21:45:59","date_gmt":"2016-01-28T21:45:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/life\/pets\/animal-care-services-report-card-a-plus-for-effort-and-always-further-to-go\/"},"modified":"2016-01-28T21:45:59","modified_gmt":"2016-01-28T21:45:59","slug":"animal-care-services-report-card-a-plus-for-effort-and-always-further-to-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/pets\/animal-care-services-report-card-a-plus-for-effort-and-always-further-to-go","title":{"rendered":"Animal Care Services Report Card: A-Plus for Effort, and Always Further to Go"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sweat equity on the part of Long Beach Animal Care Services (ACS)<\/a>\u00a0was filtered to the shelter\u2019s animals in the form of a record year for adoption, owner return and transport to other shelters. Even more heartening for animal advocates, volunteers and the dedicated shelter staff is an all-time low for euthanasia. The number is nearly half of what it was last year and over a third of what it was 2005.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I still have most of my hair,\u201d said Shelter Manager Ted Stevens at the January 18 Open House of his four years of tireless and tiring job of heading off negative outcomes and meeting challenges head on with innovative programs and tactics.<\/p>\n

ACS plans its Open Houses to provide a report card to the community about the previous year\u2019s progress and discuss priorities for the year to come. The 2015 live release and euthanasia statistics point to a GPA that\u2019s only a few percentage points from 4.0.<\/p>\n

Stats Going in the Right Direction<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since 2011, the year before Stevens took the helm, combined impound rates of dogs and cats have decreased steadily and sharply between 2014 and 2015, with a decline of nearly 1,000 animals.<\/p>\n

\"Live<\/p>\n

All statistics graphics courtesy of ACS.<\/em><\/p>\n

Live release, which includes adoptions, owner return, rescue pulls, and transport to ASPCA-approved shelters where there\u2019s a demand for certain types of animals, has had a near-steady increase from 2011, resulting in a 50 percent change. In total, there were 889 live releases of cats and 673 of dogs, not counting spcaLA pulls.<\/p>\n

\"Live<\/p>\n

Euthanasia rates, which are scrutinized by every faction of the animal community, were the most impressive\u2014having to kill a healthy pet for lack of resources is a source of both contention and heartbreak for not only animal-welfare groups but also shelter staff and volunteers. The numbers hovered from over 6,000 to over 5,000 from 2005 to 2012 and then began to fall, with sharp annual drops from 2013 to 2015. Last year\u2019s euthanasia rate was at an all-time low at 2,379\u2014over 3,000 fewer cats and nearly 1,000 fewer dogs.<\/p>\n

\"euthanasia\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThat didn\u2019t happen by accident,\u201d Stevens said, referring to the shelter\u2019s partners, projects and community. \u201cIt\u2019s better mentally for the staff. Now, we go a lot of days without euthanizing, whereas before, it was every day. We have plenty of space and no issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even with these numbers, Stevens still isn\u2019t satisfied with the number of healthy pets still euthanized and plans to increase shelter efforts to reduce them further.<\/p>\n

Community Cats<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stevens said that the shelter plans to shift the pendulum toward positive outcomes for cats this year and bring them up with those of dogs. Stray Cat Alliance (SCA)<\/a> Executive Director Christ Metropole and Anna Wong, Long Beach\u2019s Community Cat Lead, have been instrumental in this effort and will continue to be. Metropole was awarded this year\u2019s 1 Too Many Award at the Open House for the work that her organization has done for community cats, which include any cat that\u2019s free roaming, whether feral, abandoned, or fed outdoors by one or more people.<\/p>\n

\"What<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Image courtesy of ACS.<\/em><\/p>\n

The award is the shelter\u2019s highest honor, given to the community member who has contributed the most to animal well-being and welfare. Wong accepted the award for Metropole, who was running late.<\/p>\n

\"Anna<\/strong><\/em>\u201cWe started with [SCA] two years ago,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cThey help pull friendly cats and get them adopted, and when there are community cat problems, they come out. This helps us with our workload, it helps with the officers. Anna goes above and beyond\u2014she lives here and cares about the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wong said that she and Metropole are planning to fix 1,000 area cats before <\/i>kitten season, which is the time when the shelters overflow with feline mamas and babies and many don\u2019t make it out. She spoke for herself and Metropole when she picked up her award.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s any higher recognition\u2014Christi and I are so excited!\u201d she said. \u201cThis is not an award for Stray Cat Alliance. Every person in this room has a part in making this organization successful. Thank you for changing the scope about how cats are looked at. We are going to make Long Beach no kill because we<\/i> are going to do<\/i> it, not because someone told us to!\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo by Kate Karp.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Shelter Partners<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Stevens highlighted other partners and projects that have helped with positive outcomes. spcaLA<\/a>\u00a0shares the P. D. Pitchford Companion Animal Village site at 7700 East Spring Street and has been a strategic partner with the shelter since the Village opened in August 2001. Denise Jakcsy, spcaLA\u2019s Senior Director, said that spcaLA has pulled, fostered and adopted over 2,000 animals last year, allowing the shelter to focus on animals that need extra care or are hard to place and freeing up shelter resources to handle neglect and cruelty cases. The two entities also coordinately scheduled several family-oriented adoption events, including the Intergalactic Open House, a Star Wars-themed gala that had a line around the corner of hopeful attendees.<\/p>\n

\"Ren<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

“May the Furs be with you.” Ren plays with her favorite Wookie at the Intergalactic Open House at P. D. Pitchford. Photo courtesy of spcaLA.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cOur staffs work very well together\u2014we all have the same mission,\u201d Jakcsy said.<\/p>\n

Friends of Long Beach Animals (FOLBA)<\/a>\u00a0is Long Beach\u2019s most venerable animal-welfare organization. They\u2019ve partnered with ACS for over two decades, funding shelter goodies like Kuranda pet beds, staff training, leashes and humane education in the schools, including educational coloring books. More importantly, SNIP (Spay\/Neuter Incentive Program)<\/a>\u00a0has provided over 11,000 low-cost spay\/neuter vouchers for the pets of low-income families since 1998 and has funded the construction of a new clinic <\/a>on the shelter grounds. The clinic, scheduled to open this year, will serve the veterinary staff on weekdays\u2014they presently perform procedures in what amounts to a closet\u2014and will be used for low-cost spay\/neuter for the public on weekends.<\/p>\n

Fix Long Beach (FLB)<\/a>, the recipient of last year\u2019s 1 Too Many Award, has been a partner since its founding in June 2013. Stevens admitted that he was at first skeptical of founder Claudia Hoffman\u2019s campaign to provide free spay\/neuter procedures via mobile clinics for Long Beach\u2019s low-income residents, but he says he\u2019s now thoroughly convinced of its success. Since 2013, FLB has spayed and neutered over 4,000 pets, 1,044 of them this year. The mobile clinics and procedures themselves are funded privately by Hope for Paws<\/a>; ACS provides microchips that are free to all of FLB\u2019s clients and also gives vouchers for people who couldn\u2019t get their pets into the clinic because of high demand.<\/p>\n

\u2018Bone\u2019 Voyage!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>This year, ACS and its partners also helped transport over 300 cats and dogs to selected shelter<\/a>s\u00a0throughout the United States, including Alaska, as well as Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cApparently, they needed pit bulls in Canada,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cIt puts our mind at ease that ASPCA and not some flyby organization is handling this.\u201d<\/p>\n

ASPCA Relocation Director Lance Hunter detailed how pets are transported to areas where there\u2019s a shortage of certain animals. The program has been successful enough for ASPCA to find it necessary to acquire more transport vehicles, Hunter said. He and his team received a Recognition Award from the shelter.<\/p>\n

\"ASPCA\"<\/p>\n

ASPCA transport team, with Lance Hunter (third from left). Photo courtesy of ACS.
<\/em><\/p>\n

Out of the Rabbit Hole<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>ACS gave another recognition award to Valerie Garcia, founder of the Sweetpea Foundation rabbit rescue<\/a>\u00a0in Whitter.<\/p>\n

\"Ms.<\/em><\/strong>\u201cUnfortunately in the past, rabbits were sort of an afterthought,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cSo we really made an investment in them\u2014The Bunny Barn. I\u2019m happy to report that not one rabbit was euthanized for time and space. We don\u2019t turn our backs on any critters that walk through the door\u2014lizards, chickens\u2014and it\u2019s so nice not to have these wonderful pets sitting in the corner somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stevens said that since The Bunny Barn made rabbits more visible, it was often empty, and rabbits needed to be brought in from other shelters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re usually the ones sending cats and dogs\u2014now here we are, paying it forward. Valerie did so much behind the scenes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish that other shelters could learn from this one. This is the best shelter I\u2019ve ever worked with,\u201d Garcia said.<\/p>\n

Left: Valerie Garcia hops to it regularly to help find homes for rabbits. Photograph by Kate Karp.<\/em><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve Got a Friend<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Doug\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Spirit of Dr. Loren Eslinger Award is named for the late veterinarian who donated her time to the shelter\u2019s animals as a labor of love. The award is given to ACS\u2019s volunteer of the year, and Douglass Pennington received it this year. Pennington\u2019s resemblance to Santa Claus doesn\u2019t stop at his beard and friendly demeanor; Stevens cited many hours he spends interacting with pets in need or crisis, such as Tiny Tim, a Chihuahua who had been found by a group of youngsters as he was roaming near the traffic circle with an old injury.<\/p>\n

\"Tiny<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Doug has seen to it that Tiny Tim fot whatever he wants on his holiday list. Photo courtesy of ACS staff.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have so many great volunteers, and this person came up right away,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cWe can call him on speed dial, and he\u2019s a yes man. It really is helpful when we have a surgery in downtown L.A. and we say Doug, do you mind sitting in traffic for three hours? He continues to be the Freedom Ride for pets. He\u2019s here four in the morning, five in the morning to fulfill that process. He also assists in training with rescue partners. He\u2019s polite, respectful and always has a cheerful attitude.\u201d<\/p>\n

Volunteers: The Shelter\u2019s Lifeblood<\/strong><\/p>\n

Along with a hardworking staff, to which ACS has this year added an adoption coordinator, volunteers are the lifeblood of the shelter. They clean pet areas, participate in transports, assist with adoption, foster pets, participate in the Explorer Academy at the shelters, do internships, and perform countless other tasks. Volunteering at ACS ha become so specialized that the shelter hired a volunteer coordinator for management in 2014. And last year, some of the volunteers took on other volunteers to establish the Animal Rescue Team (ART) table in front of the shelter to suggest alternatives to people who have come to surrender their pets.<\/p>\n

\"AMRT<\/p>\n

ART table volunteers outside shelter door. Photos, including those above, by Kate Karp.<\/em><\/p>\n

Root of the Problem Addressed<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last year, the Long Beach City Council, with ACS\u2019s input, passed the Mandatory Spay\/Neuter and Pet Shop ordinances<\/a>, which went into effect in October. The wording mandates that all dogs, with some exceptions, must be spayed or neutered (it has been illegal to own an unaltered cat for several years) and <\/a>no animal may be sold publicly or privately unless through a licensed breeder or in businesses where shelter\/rescue pets are up for adoption.<\/p>\n

Adoption galas included Mayor Robert Garcia\u2019s Kitty Hall, at which every pet was adopted, and shelter staff members were included in the mayor\u2019s holiday card.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am proud of the Long Beach community for stepping up to support our local shelter,\u201d Mayor Garcia said. \u201cThrough community engagement and partnerships with nonprofit groups, we\u2019ve been able to reduce animal overpopulation and give more pets a loving, permanent home. There\u2019s more work to do, but I\u2019m proud of the progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Banner Year, but No Coasting Allowed<\/strong><\/p>\n

The coyote plan was also revised, and an interactive map was added to the page at the shelter<\/a>. New social media for finding lost pets and reporting found ones were welcome innovations; the Twitter tag #LBLostFoundPets has been effective in this respect<\/strong>. Other accomplishments include the sponsorship of 1,000 low-cost clinics at 20 locations around Long Beach; garnering over 7,300 Facebook followers and almost 1,000 on Instagram, both of which feature adoptable pets; and addition of four languages\u2014Khmer, Tagalog, English and Spanish\u2014to the shelter\u2019s mobile app<\/a>\u00a0and phone system.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure I\u2019ve forgotten something,\u201d Stevens said.<\/p>\n

Shelter staff also did what shelter staff typically does: completed over 26,000 field-activities in the shelter\u2019s jurisdiction (Long Beach, Seal Beach, Los Alamitos, Signal Hill and Cerritos); took part in vicious animal hearings and felony cruelty cases; responded to calls; handled public-safety issues and wildlife in danger; performed veterinary procedures seven days a week; managed $1 million in license revenues; and handled the office telephones.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking in that front office is the most difficult,\u201d Stevens said. He invited the audience to hang out there and see for themselves.<\/p>\n

Stevens mapped out plans for 2016: the new FOLBA-funded clinic; improving response time to calls; greater live-release numbers and lower impounds and euthanasia; increased community outreach; more offsite adoptions, including at Pet Food Express\u2019s new Long Beach location; more free and low-cost spay\/neuter clinics; and improved shelter environment for guests animal and human. This will include play groups for the animals and a privately funded open cat room.<\/p>\n

\"girls<\/p>\n

ACS Rescue and Transport Coordinator Sara Cozolino, Adoption Coordinator Jill Prout, and Outreach Coordinator Kelly Miott team up to spotlight shelter pets. Here they are with the very adoptable Tigger, who was recently pulled by a rescue. Photo by Kate Karp.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cLooking forward, we\u2019re not satisfied by any means,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cWe\u2019re headed in the right direction but still have some work to do. And we\u2019re going to continue to work toward making these numbers even better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even if you can\u2019t come to the shelter, there are a lot of ways that you can help insure positive outcomes for our shelter pets. Contact ACS\u2019s volunteer coordinator at Kathy.Roddy@LongBeach.gov<\/a>. For more information, call 562.570.7387.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\"Volunteer<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rome wasn\u2019t built in a day, but they were laying bricks every hour.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

~ James Clear, entrepreneur, weightlifter and travel photographer<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sweat equity on the part of\u00a0Long Beach Animal Care Services (ACS)<\/a>\u00a0was filtered to the shelter\u2019s animals in the form of a record year for adoption, owner return and transport to other shelters. Even more heartening for animal advocates, volunteers and the dedicated shelter staff is an all-time low for euthanasia. The numbers are nearly half of what it was last year and over a third of what it was 2005.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":67456,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[68],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-2086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pets","tag-the-scratching-post","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2086\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2086"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=2086"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}