Almost immediately after the Foster the Fourth article posted, this video popped up on Long Beach Animal Care Services’ Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/LongBeachAnimalCare/videos/348002669203780/?t=11
Foster the Fourth comprises a partnership between the shelter and dog rescue Live Love Animal Rescue. Only dogs are available to foster since the rescue established the program four Fourths ago. Despite a successful Pet Adoption Day on June 15, during which 102 animals went home from the shelter and spcaLA, the number of cats at the shelter has climbed way above 200. To address the kitten crisis, Staycee Dains, the shelter’s director, has initiated and coordinated a foster program until the actual contractors are in place.
On June 18, Dains, the staff and the volunteers have managed fosters of kittens singly and in pairs. On Thursday, June 20, Dains will again be on hand to get more out and mitigate the Fourth of July influx. Kittens are the focus of the fostering because of the sheer number that wind up there on a nearly daily basis.
“As long as animals continue to roam freely while intact and not sterilized, we will continue to receive homeless, neglected and unwanted animals,” Dains said. “This time of year is especially tricky because not only is the birth rate of kittens exponential, it’s the Fourth of July. And those explosions terrify animals who take flight into the streets and are injured and lost.”
Residents will foster kittens until each one is 2 months old, when they’ll receive spay/neuter surgery. The foster period depends on each kitten. The shelter has kittens ranging in age from 3 weeks to about 2 months, so the foster period could go from five weeks to a few days. The main requirement is a willingness to keep a kitten for a few days or weeks, ability to follow directions, and a clean record with the shelter. Long Beach Animal Care Services will provide food and any required medication.
Dains is grateful to the residents who plan to foster or adopt kittens.
“I also give a shout-out to Live Love animal rescue for inviting us to partner with them for Foster the Fourth to make room for the huge influx that happens because of the war zone animals experience during this holiday.”
There are too many kittens hanging out in those little condos to show even in cyberspace, so here are a few little whiskery examples. Sure, maybe you won’t want to send yours back, but to partially quote Bob Dylan, there’s no success like failure. Foster failure!
https://www.facebook.com/LongBeachAnimalCare/videos/2378446719145444/?t=46
Video courtesy of Long Beach Animal Care Services
Felicity (ID##A628410) and Sophia (ID#A628426) are rarities indeed! Most orangies are males—about 80%—and these little pumpkins are female! Felicity is a playful little girl who loves humans, and Sophia would rather be wrapped up in a blanket and cuddle.
Anyone ready to foster a kitten should come to the shelter between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. No phone calls, please. Long Beach Animal Care Services is located at 7700 E. Spring St., Long Beach, at the entrance to El Dorado Park. Enter through the door shown below.
