Proposed Mandatory Spay/Neuter Ordinance to Be Presented at Council Meeting • the Hi-lo

The next step toward a positive future for Long Beach animals, particularly regarding a drop in shelter euthanasia, will be voted upon on Tuesday, Oct. 18 at the Long Beach City Council meeting (read the full recommendation here).

“Going forward, I’m not satisfied, and neither is my staff,” said Long Beach Animal Care Services (ACS) shelter director Ted Stevens during Mayor Robert Garcia’s Animal Care Town Hall Meeting on Oct. 28 (story to follow). “It’s great that things are getting better, but we can do more and we can do better.”

Animal Care Services has been partnering with rescues, foundations and the animal-advocacy community at large to create ways to promote adoption, offer free or low-cost spay/neuter procedures, educate the public and lower the euthanasia rate, but the animals keep coming. Divorce, landlord issues and mainly irresponsibility on the part of residents who for one reason or another refuse to fix their animals or dump them unaltered into feral colonies or parks are the reason for this.

With this in mind, three council members—Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal, second district; Suzie Price, third district; and Stacy Mungo, fifth district (it’s tempting to do something cute with the consonance of their first names, but I feel that it would be silly, supercilious and overly sibilant)—have submitted a recommendation to the effect that the city manager and city attorney will return in 90 days with a draft ordinance making it mandatory for dog owners to spay or neuter their pets, with the exception of animals with medical exclusions or an owner with a breeding permit from the Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine.

“Even with the good work of our ACS and community partners, more pro-active measures can and should be taken to reduce pet overpopulation and irresponsible pet ownership,” reads the memo attached to the recommendation. “To illustrate this point, ACS impounded approximately 4,440 dogs in 2013, which works out to be 12 dogs per day, seven days per week. Of that total, approximately 1 in 4 were puppies and a vast majority was unaltered. Of the dogs impounded, 60% were either returned to their owner, adopted or transferred to rescues….Another notable segment of animals impounded by ACS are those coming from illegal backyard breeding that have been dumped in our city’s parks or on our streets. Tragically, some female pit bulls are bred for only one litter before being dumped by their owner in favor of a younger female in the litter. By requiring dogs to be spayed/neutered,…we are providing Animal Care Services Bureau with another effective tool for motivating dog owners….Abandonment, strays and ferals will also decrease. Not to mention the health benefits for dogs in receiving veterinarian attention and females in particular, by reducing their risk of mammary and ovarian cancer, infection and stress….”

The photo on Fix Long Beach’s flyer is designed to provoke thought about what ultimately happens to all the cute puppies, and possibly the mother.

The memo also cites the need for more revenue sources to help residents with low incomes to afford the cost of a procedure, thus augmenting the work done by Friends of Long Beach Animals’ SNIP program and Fix Long Beach’s free spay/neuter program, which has fixed around 2,000 cats and dogs since June 2013. Support would include mobile clinics, increased vouchers and public education. The law would be enforced through citations and license canvassing.

“To make a significant impact on animal impounds, we need to control the unwanted litters, and that happens through responsible pet ownership, and mandatory spay and neuter supports a reduction in unwanted litters,” Mungo said.

The recommendation additionally asks for an ordinance that would make the sale of dogs, cats or rabbits illegal in any commercial establishment unless the animal has been obtained from the shelter or a rescue and approved for sale there or has been bred on the premises with a breeding permit. This would most likely lead to a tweak of Municipal Code 6.16.050, which deals with the sale of animals.

This section of the recommendation would have a positive impact on animal cruelty as well as shelter overpopulation; the Humane Society of the United States cites puppy mills selling their animals to pet stores as a pervasive scourge that involves repeatedly breeding mother dogs in filthy, crowded conditions and selling their often ill and inbred litters by the truckload to pet stores.

“While I was the budget director for LA County Animal Care, I had the opportunity to work with Supervisor Antonovich’s office on the anti-puppy mill ordinance,” Mungo said. “I know there are opportunities that are great for the pet population and great for the business of pet shops to receive the unwanted puppies and kittens brought to our shelters.”

“Spay/neuter has been the subject of an ongoing conversation between my office and passionate advocates in the animal care community for at least seven years now,” Councilmember Lowenthal said. “As a result, I have sponsored legislation having to do with low-cost spay/neuter, full-time veterinary care, mobile vaccination, microchipping and cat licensing. So mandatory spay/neuter is the next step in promoting responsible pet ownership while reducing euthanasia.

“My co-sponsors, Councilmembers Price and Mungo, recognized the need to address the primary source of pet overpopulation—owners with unaltered dogs—and not just try to cope with its effects. We aren’t going to adopt our way out of this problem. The same goes for pet stores selling animals from mills—these stores are the first point of contact for many residents thinking about pet ownership, so it’s an opportunity for them to help us educate the public on responsible pet ownership, beginning with their choice in animals.”

It’s been illegal to own an unaltered cat in Long Beach, and the law hasn’t been easy to enforce, particularly with the number of unaltered cats living in or dumped in feral colonies as well as the cats allowed to go outside homes to roam or take up residence in some kind soul’s backyard, where they get fed and ultimately raise families, which raise families, and so on. The shelter has responded with the Community Cats program, and there are also groups dedicated to trapping, fixing and releasing feral cats, adopting the kittens out when possible.

Lowenthal noted that over 80 percent of owned cats have been fixed; with dogs, it’s a different story. Although dogs don’t haunt the streets in as great a number as cats, they are frequently bred so that the puppies may be sold, and if this fails to happen, they wind up at the shelter—or worse. Accidents happen, too, when a dog escapes a leash or a yard.

“In the case of dogs, we need to educate the public about responsible pet ownership and enforce our laws,” Lowenthal said. “Therefore, I believe our pet licensing officers who canvas our neighborhoods are a great resource for both priorities and would expect our city manager to bring back a plan that includes adding more officers, so that ACS focuses more on proactive measures than reactive solutions.”

Lowenthal added, when asked, that it would be a great idea to educate children about responsible pet ownership in the same way that they are taught about littering and water conservation. Friends of Long Beach Animals does in fact have a district-approved humane education program taught by author Deborah Turner; it’s free to Long Beach schools, scout troops, and library and community groups.

There has been some concern from the public about enforcement and the cost thereof and the possibility of dog owners hiding their pets or turning them in to the shelter, and there’s also been the expected outcry to keep the government out of private lives. Lowenthal said that some costs related to enforcement as well as to public outreach, education and additional low-cost spay/neuter vouchers if the ordinance passes; they are hopeful that the city manager will find revenue opportunities for them.

“We anticipate mandatory spay/neuter to reduce overhead costs in the long term at the Village due to fewer dogs being impounded,” Lowenthal said. Mungo added that the additional spay and neuter should reduce live animal impounds and give the staff more time in the field for enforcement.

As for the other concerns, Lowenthal stands firm on the responsibility of pet owners and reducing shelter overpopulation. “I do not believe the end result of irresponsible pet ownership is defensible—namely pet overpopulation, which leads to thousands of pets being euthanized every year. I believe there is a true disconnect between one’s actions or inactions at the residential level and the cost in animal lives, community volunteer hours and taxpayers dollars at the city level. So we need to make the connection for our residents and make them part of the solution rather than an unknowing part of the problem.”

Kibble

Few in Long Beach have done as much for reducing shelter overpopulation, educating the public about spay/neuter, and improving the quality of life for both pets and their people than Fix Long Beach’s Claudia Hoffman. I’ve volunteered this past year with Fix Long Beach at many of Long Beach’s parks, and, as Claudia has said, it’s no walk in the park. We come home exhausted and in need of wine and sleep, and then the next day, we read on the Fix Long Beach Facebook page that we’ve fixed 44 pets, 53 pets, 38 pets—however many that have led up to nearly 2,000, and we see some of the dogs, cats and humans that we’ve gotten to know.

Before the city council meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 18, Claudia Hoffman will be presented with a proclamation honoring her work and that of the volunteers. I’d like to add the names of all the people who got it about pet overpopulation and animal health.

“We are honoring Fix Long Beach for amazing work they do by offering free spaying and neutering for pets,” Mayor Robert Garcia said. “This is extremely important as work towards the day when every animal in Long Beach that needs a home can have one.”

Virtually Pets

On Oct. 28, Mayor Robert Garcia held an Animal Care Town Hall meeting at the El Dorado Park Community Center, which was attended by a couple of hundred people who wanted hope and change for our shelter and its animals. I was hoping to write something up the day after it took place, but stuff got in the way. To say the least, it was lively—nothing brings forth more passion and discussion as a bunch of crazy animal lovers—I’m one, and I can talk.

The shelter was the focus of the discussion as well as what’s in its future, but the real focus was on the pets in our shelters and rescues. Here are a couple of them:

Mr. Shaggy, 5 years old, is as goofy and silly as he looks, and is equally fun and friendly. He’d love to go to a forever home. Ask for ID#A533852.

Mac is a sweet-faced neutered brown tabby who at 4 years old is beginning the prime of his life. He’s an owner surrender and needs a good, stable home. Ask for ID#A534231.

There’s plenty more where they came from—see their photos here. Visit them on the shelter side (make sure you check the signage) at 7700 Spring St. in El Dorado Park.

Here’s the entrance.

If you still don’t find what you’re looking for, visit the pages of these rescues supported by ACS:

Pet Projects

Operation Santa Paws, Various Shelters Dec. 1–20

Would you all be able to help collect dog and cat toys, treats, food or supplies to donate to the local animal shelters with our Operation Santa Paws program?If so, let [email protected] know the public drop-off places you’ll be hosting (names, addresses, phone numbers); we can include that on the website. Then, for the Long Beach/OC area, we’ll gather all the collected goodies on the morning of Saturday, Dec. 20 in Long Beach and distribute them all to the pets in area shelters and rescues. You can also take your collected goods directly to your favorite shelter or rescue! For more information, click here.

A Christmas Carol Friends of Long Beach Animals (FOLBA) Fund-Raiser, Sunday, Dec. 14, Long Beach Playhouse,5201 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach, 6:30PM reception, 7:30PM Performance. $25 adults, $15 for children.

Enjoy a performance of a beloved Christmas tale and bless the animals one and all at the same time! The reception will include appetizers, a silent auction and a raffle, and Ralph Brunson will entertain guests with his piano classics as they graze and gaze. All FOLBA members will receive a free drink at the bar for additional holiday cheer. Visit here for information and ticket locations.