{"id":591,"date":"2018-08-13T16:29:14","date_gmt":"2018-08-13T23:29:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/?p=999914228"},"modified":"2018-08-13T16:29:14","modified_gmt":"2018-08-13T23:29:14","slug":"hot-dogs-into-pup-sicles-city-departments-provide-pet-cooling-centers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/pets\/hot-dogs-into-pup-sicles-city-departments-provide-pet-cooling-centers","title":{"rendered":"Hot dogs into pup-sicles: city departments provide pet cooling centers"},"content":{"rendered":"

You\u2019re overcome by the heat. You\u2019re miserable in your skin. You take multiple baths and leap into cold pools, but you dry out immediately. It burns your feet to walk on the asphalt. You want to just lie like a lox somewhere, but it\u2019s too hot.<\/p>\n

If you feel like this, you can imagine how your human is feeling.<\/p>\n

Luckily for all of you, Long Beach is again providing cooling centers in libraries and community centers located in parks to escape to when your air conditioning breaks\u2014if you have any\u2014or if you\u2019re dogged by whopping SCE summer bills. Additionally this year, Long Beach has joined surrounding sweltering communities to provide four air-conditioned cooling centers for your cats and dogs. The centers will be available during operating hours, and there will be water for the pets and a few kennels for them to relax in.<\/p>\n

\u201cCity staff anticipated that the needs of residents\u2019 pets would be of concern,\u201d said Gladys Kaiser, manager of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine\u2019s Community Recreation Services Bureau. \u201cWe are happy to assist with providing appropriate space and resources needed to make sure residents who have animals have access to the designated pet-friendly centers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keiser said that the four locations that welcome pets were geographically dispersed around town in order to serve as many Long Beach residents as possible. The locations housing the pet cooling centers are El Dorado Park West, 2800 Studebaker Rd., 9:00 a.m.\u20136:00 p.m.; Silverado Park, 1545 W. 31st St. 9:00 a.m.\u20138:00 p.m.; Ramona Park, 3301 E. 65th St., 9:00 a.m.\u20138:00 p.m.; and Martin Luther King Jr. Park, 9:00 a.m.\u20138:00 p.m. The community centers are regularly open Monday through Friday; Silverado, Ramona and King currently have extended hours for activities.<\/p>\n

Each center is designed differently, but there are 10 food-and-water bowls and five crates at each site. Visitors must bring food for their pets; the staff will provide water and will clean the bowls. Guests are encouraged to bring their own carriers in case the five provided ones are in use\u2014the pets will also feel more comfortable in their own (as long as they aren\u2019t thinking \u201cVet! Vet! Vet!\u201d). Certified helper dogs may remain with their humans as long as the animals are leashed.<\/p>\n

Humans must remain in the cooling room with their pets but may engage in any ongoing activities. Of course, if the pet needs to go outdoors for a bathroom break, the human is responsible. If the human needs a break\u2014well, make it quick.<\/p>\n

On Friday, El Dorado Senior Center volunteer Jean Smith\u2019s three dogs, Josie, Mei Mei and Truman, were cooling their heels and forepaws at the park\u2019s cooling center. Parks and Rec employee Sonia Hodjat, who was assisting Smith with the crates, said that the mobility of the cooling center furnishings allowed some flexibility with location within the centers.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo by Kate Karp.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not married to this space\u2014if there are activities going on in other rooms, we can have a setup in them so that people can participate. A lot of the activities are self-guided\u2014there are books to read and cards and board games to play while they\u2019re cooling down with their dogs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The crates and bowls will remain in the centers indefinitely in anticipation of hot weather. Smith was roundly pleased with the entire idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a great idea, because pets get hot, too!\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Even though this is a pet column, it would be remiss not to throw people a bone and a bottle of water in this horrible heat. Parks and Rec has other people-only cooling centers in our parks. Check this link<\/a> for locations.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>\u201cYou know it\u2019s hot when the dog starts to melt.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

~ Anonymous<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Long Beach is again providing cooling centers in libraries and community centers located in parks to escape to when your air conditioning breaks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":66114,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","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":[39],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pets","tag-scratching-post","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591","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=591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=591"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=591"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}