Please send any Long Beach or Seal Beach pet-related events or projects to [email protected]. Posting subject to approval.
Virtually Pets
Once again, Pet Projects is helping the rescues and shelters who try to open an umbrella to fend off kitten season.
For anyone unfamiliar who didn’t read the last string of comments, kitten season isn’t cute. Oh, it does produce adorable little love bugs who might grow up healthy and strong and be someone’s new BFF. More than likely, the thousands and thousands that are born across the country will wind up squashed by trucks, eaten by predators, feral and possibly ill, or euthanized in shelters because there aren’t enough fosters or homes for them.
Kitten season happens roughly between spring and mid-fall—continuously. Litter sizes on the average are between 3 and 4 babies. Multiply this by the number of unaltered female cats running around or even in homes, and consider that a cat can become pregnant at 5 months, and you’ve got a mess. If you own an unaltered cat, male or female (yes, those boys can get around—litters have multiple fathers), please, oh please, get it fixed. Can’t afford it? Get a voucher from Long Beach Animal Care Services (ACS) to take a nip out of the cost, or get in touch with Fix Long Beach and get a free procedure or a voucher for one. Help the trap-neuter-return (TNR) effort here (see resources below). Help with the community cat maintenance. And please, if you find a litter, make sure that they’re actually abandoned by the mother before you trot them in to the shelter. They may never have a chance, and you’ve got a fertile female still running around.
Finally, foster a cat or adopt one. Here are a few samples from Zoey’s Place Cat Rescue, a one-person operation with a little help from her friends. This is not an exhaustive set of examples—there’s plenty more in her care, whom you can meet at the Kitten Tsunami event this Saturday (see Pet Projects)!
To adopt from Zoey’s Place Rescue, email [email protected]. Adoption fees include FELV/FIV testing, microchip, vaccinations and spay/neuter. Kittens are $175, and adults are $150.
Yoshi is 10 weeks old and could have some Turkish Van in him. Yoshi is affectionate, handsome , curious and playful. Born from a feral mom, he is the picture of the perfect kitten, isn’t he? Kamiko
Kamiko, also 10 months old, is the last born of the litter but the first for everything! The little tabby mix is adventurous and loving, and the perfect addition to any family!
Vince, an 11-week-old orange-and-white domestic-shorthair mix, is a very active little guy who thrives on the company of others and would love a family of his own.
And finally, Graham! Graham is an 8-month-old Abyssinian mix. He’s a shy but magnificent little boy who’s eager to find a calm home he can blossom in.
Sweetie
Well, kittens are cute, after all, and the best thing that could happen for any of them is to grow up in loving homes. Speaking of growing up, adult cats are often overlooked during kitten season. Friends of Long Beach Animals (FOLBA) http://www.folba.org was founded in 1990 and is our city’s most enduring pet-welfare program. FOLBA isn’t a rescue, but they do their part in helping with spay/neuter and supporting the shelter’s pets. One of their efforts is to place cats from ACS in visible locations. Sweetie’s one of them. She’s currently at the Bixby Animal Clinic, 3938 Atlantic Ave, Long Beach. Her person fell and became incapacitated. Because she can’t keep a cat where she is, the little girl was taken to ACS. FOLBA saw how frightened and unhappy she was, and took her to Bixby, where she’s being cared for. She’ll listen to you when you talk to her and will purr loudly when you pet her. All she needs now is a home. She’s 10 years old, spayed and vetted, and has a lot of years left! Her adoption fee is $90. To take her home, contact [email protected].
Another soap-box moment—be sure that you have a safe place for your pet to land should you no longer be able to care for him or her.
As a friend said, the problem is bigger than the solution. However, if you’re willing to keep chipping away at it, here are a few good resources. Please suggest any that I left out.
Information
Support Groups
Vouchers and Free/Low-Cost Spay Neuter
Long Beach Animal Care Services (vouchers provided by Friends of Long Beach Animals and clinic information only; the shelter’s S/N isn’t open to the public)
SNP/LA Veterinary Clinic, San Pedro (call to inquire about feral spay days)
Golden State Humane Veterinary Clinic, Long Beach
Fosters, Bottle-Feeders, Help Needed from the Community!
CatPAWS and Little Lion to present bottle-feeding workshops
Jellicle Cats Rescue Foundation
Long Beach Spay and Neuter Foundation
Making Biscuits Cat Adoption and Rescue
(If that seems like a lot of resources, multiply it exponentially—cats X litters X litters X litters X litters… . It isn’t.)
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Dedicated to Nightingale (left) and Noddy(right), who, thanks to initial human thoughtlessness, resisted all efforts to save them.
Things to Do, Pets to Support
Friends of Long Beach Animals Annual Yard Sale
Friday and Saturday, June 1 and 2, 8:00AM–2:00PM, 5817 Rogene Street, Long Beach
Yard-sale-type prices!
One person’s trash may be another person’s treasure, but whatever you think of the goodies at this sale, the funds will be helping our furry treasures!
KLOS and KABC Present spcaLA Pet Adoption Day
Saturday, June 2, 10AM–5:30PM, spcaLA and ACS at P.D. Pitchford Companion Animal Village, 7700 East Spring Street, Long Beach
Free event, 50 percent off all adoption fees!
Time to come to the Pitchford Companion Animal Village and get Sticky Fingers from all the kitties and puppies licking them! It’s spcaLA’s biggest adoption event of the year and a great chance to meet your new BFF! All adoption fees will be 50 percent off (the qualifications for potential adopters remain the same), and there will be vendor booths, giveaways, food trucks and other good stuff to have fun with! The 95.5 KLOS Cool Patrol will keep the party going with rock tunes all afternoon long, and fans can meet DJs from KLOS and KABC. Wild horses couldn’t drag you away!
Kitten Tsunami Event
Saturday, June 2, noon–4:00PM, Pussy & Pooch, 4818 East Second Street, Long Beach
Adoption fees apply
Help mitigate kitten season by adopting a kitten! Meet adorable little guys looking for homes! Then, go inside Pussy & Pooch and find everything they need and deserve! See flier for details.
FOLBA Annual Membership Meeting
Thursday, June 14, 6:30PM, Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 Anaheim Street, Long Beach
Free event
Join Friends of Long Beach Animals (FOLBA) http://www.folba.org for their Annual Membership Meeting, celebrating 29 wonderful years of caring for pets in the Long Beach and Signal Hill communities. Learn about the great things FOLBA has done and continues to do, including spay/neuter assistance and the funding of the training for the dog play yard at the shelter. Coffee and cookies will be served, and the evening guest will be Canine Companions for Independence (CCI) http://www.cci.org/, a national nonprofit that enhances the lives of people with disabilities by providing highly trained assistance dogs and ongoing support to ensure quality partnerships. Along with an overview of their programs, a CCI volunteer will provide a demonstration and meet-and-greet with a “puppy in program.”
Fix Long Beach Free Spay/Neuter CAT! Clinic
Saturday, June 16, 7:30AM–3:00PM, Ramona Park, 3301 East 65th Street at Obispo Avenue, Long Beach
Have your dog spayed or neutered free with appointment and qualifications; vet appointment with voucher, minimal charge for dogs and cats; flea meds $10; shots and dewormer $10 each; nail trimming, $10
It’s now the law to fix your pets in Long Beach and many Southern California cities. To provide this costly service to our Long Beach residents who otherwise couldn’t afford it, Fix Long Beach offers this service free of charge. The spay/neuter truck will be at its new location at Ramona Park on this date.
Make an appointment through IM or email at [email protected] for your dog, and include (1) your name, (2) address, (3) phone number, (4) pet’s name, (5) age, (6) sex, (7) breed, and (8) weight, and Fix will see if they can schedule you. You can also come as a standby, but be there at 8:30AM. Make sure that your pet has had nothing to eat or drink past 10:00PM the previous night.
To donate, visit our page. In-kind donations such as leashes, collars and toys can be brought to our event or ordered through our Amazon wish list.
For both spay/neuter and vaccinations, all dogs must be on sturdy leashes and all cats must be in dedicated carriers. Fix thanks you in advance for being responsible for your pet’s health and for helping to reduce shelter overpopulation and euthanasia.
Fix Long Beach’s Wild, Wild West Casino Night
Saturday, June 23, 6:00PM, Cosmic Brewery, 20316 Gramercy Place, Torrance
Tickets $25, available here; includes all-you-can eat buffet, drinks and “funny money”
Git along, little doggie–uh, dogie, and we’ll lasso up some great food, drinks, sounds and lots of yee-haw fun! Your $25 will grab you a taco dinner (we have vegan options for cowpokes who don’t like to poke cows), mighty fine craft beers and handcrafted soda pop. Don’t tell the sheriff, but we’re giving you $100 in “funny money” that you can use in the ol’ saloon playing roulette, poker and blackjack. And y’all can absquatulate with some durn fine prizes from gaming and in the silent auction (you gotta spend actual tin for that). Best of all, you’ll be helping us round up pets to spay and neuter—Fix Long Beach does that for free for folks who can’t afford it–all the greenbacks you spend will be used at Fix Long Beach!
Friends of Long Beach Animals’ 26th Annual Theater Benefit, Featuring ‘My Fair Lady’
Thursday, July 12, 6:30PM, Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 Anaheim Street, Long Beach
Tickets $30, includes a wine reception with finger food and dessert, Ralph Brunson at the piano, a raffle and a silent auction.
The rain in Spain they’ll track in your domain…by George, you’ve got it—a wonderful time viewing the classical musical My Fair Lady, enjoying a buffet of goodies, bidding on auction items, listening to the piano music, and of course, we won’t forget helping all the pets that Friends of Long Beach Animals (FOLBA) helps spay and neuter and provide for! Tickets are can be purchased at the locations on the flier, or you can call FOLBA directly at (562) 988-7647. And be sure to get you to the show…on…time!
Ongoing
BARK Therapy Dogs Reading with Kids
See website for information
Founded in 2007, BARK (Beach Animals Reading with Kids) is a nonprofit all-volunteer program that encourages children to increase their reading skills and self-confidence by reading aloud to certified therapy dogs. Students sometimes find it intimidating to read in front of classmates but love to read to the non-judgmental, calming dogs. BARK now has 170 teams listening to kids in more than 100 schools and libraries in California—Long Beach libraries visited monthly are Bach, El Dorado, Bayshore, Brewitt and Los Altos; outlying-area libraries include Hawaiian Gardens, Iacoboni and Los Alamitos. BARK teams also visit nursing homes, senior living facilities and veteran centers. They even de-stress college students during finals week! For all events, check out BARK’s calendar. To find information about volunteering your furry buddy or to arrange a visit to your school, library or other community, contact the group at [email protected] or (562)235-8835.
Kitty Catchers Adoption Event
Saturdays and Sundays, 11:00AM–3:30PM both days, PetSmart, 2550 Cherry Avenue, Signal Hill
Despite the name, Kitty Catchers catches doggies, too, and some will be there along with the lovely fosters at this event! You’ll find your best friend there and anything else you’ll need to give him or her a good life from then on.
Pet Adoption Event at PFE
Saturdays and Sundays, Pet Food Express, 4220 Long Beach Boulevard, Long Beach
Adoption fees apply
Find your new BFF and everything that he or she could possibly want or need, in one place. Long Beach Animal Care Services (ACS) and other rescues bring great cats and dogs ready to go home with their new people. Everything is high quality at Pet Food Express, and that includes the adoptive pets! Check out the Cat Adoption Center, featuring fine felines from Long Beach Animal Care Services and Stray Cat Alliance. For more information about which rescues will be present on any particular day, follow this link.
SNP/LA Mobile Low-Cost Pet Vaccines
Locations and dates vary; visit link in text
For low-cost vaccines, visit this link http://snpla.org/. Note that pet owners must be 18 years or older, all pets must be on leashes or in carriers, and only healthy and non-pregnant animals will be vaccinated. Please bring prior vaccination information with you to the clinic. Vaccination and microchip services are provided for pets residing in any city. Licensing is provided for residents within our jurisdiction at Saturday clinics; please bring your renewal notice and rabies certificate with you. Low/cost spay/neuter information is also available through SNP/LA.
Free Pet Food Distributions
Papa, a big “teddy bear’ of a dog, sits with his human in Ashlee’s Pet Care station at Beacon for Him.
Beacon for Him has extended an outreach for people experiencing homelessness and their pets. Pet food, primarily dog food, is available at their facility at 439 West Anaheim Street, Mondays from 9:00AM to noon and Saturdays from noon to 3:00PM. A dog-washing station with a stainless-steel tub is also available onsite at these hours. Donations and supplies such as shampoo, flea control and, of course, pet food are always gratefully accepted.
The Pet Food Bank is sponsored by Christian Outreach in Action. COA is located at 515 E 3rd St, Long Beach. Hours are Thursday from 9:00AM to 11:00AM.
Shelter-Enrichment Supplies Needed for ACS Dogs and Cats!
Drop-off: Wednesdays through Fridays, 10:00AM–5:30PM and Saturdays and Sundays, 10:00AM–4:00PM, 7700 East Spring Street, Long Beach
Individual donations requested
ACS is continuing our kennel enrichment activities for our canine guests here and could use so more donations (there are plenty for the cats!). Here is what’s needed:
- creamy peanut butter
- yogurt
- beef broth (canned or in the box)
- chicken broth (canned or in the box)
- incense
- carabiner clips (heavy duty)
- ice cube trays
- pipe cleaners
- toilet paper/paper towel rolls
- cat toys
- corks from bottles (for cat toys)
- catnip
- canned cat and dog food
Donations are tax deductible. Our pups and kitties say thanks so much!