Justin Rudd and his partner, Ralph. Photo courtesy of Just Rudd.

Please send any Long Beach or Seal Beach pet-related events or projects to [email protected]. Posting subject to approval.

For anyone who isn’t familiar with the organization, Fix Long Beach is a grassroots nonprofit that provides free spay/neuter for the pets of Long Beach residents [more than happy to offer the disclaimer that I’m a longtime active volunteer with Fix. I thought it was the greatest thing since grain-free kibble, and I jumped in along with a lot of others who feel that fixing leaks and turning off faucets is an effective way to prevent floods of unwanted pets that fill shelters].

Long Beach resident Claudia Hoffmann founded Fix Long Beach in June 2013. Hoffman stepped back to concentrate on rescue a couple of years ago, but Fix is still at it, providing free spay/neuter procedures to qualified LB residents as well as free microchips and low-cost vaccines, flea meds, deworming and nail trimmings. Educating people as to why the procedures are necessary hasn’t been 100 percent successful—some flatly refuse for a number of reasons—but the lengthy waiting lists, the continuous drop in shelter euthanasia, and the thousands of likes on the Facebook page are good indicators of progress.

Funding Fix Long Beach is a challenge, however, as each clinic cost upward of $6,500. Hope for Paws, an L.A.-based animal rescue with a sizable online presence, promised funding up to 2016 and extended it to 2017. Since then, Fix has been scrambling and fund-raising like mad for sponsorship and grants. Councilmembers Suzie Price, Daryl Supernaw and (former councilwoman) Suja Lowenthal funded past clinics, as have Friends of Long Beach Animals and a few anonymous donors. Community organizer and everything else, Justin Rudd (do I need to tell you who he is?), has been a staunch advocate of Fix Long Beach from the get-go. He and his Community Action Team have sponsored two clinics, and on Oct. 13, he’s funding a third.

Tireless community organizer Justin Rudd (right) with partner Ralph Millero. Photo courtesy of Justin Rudd.

The October event has the added Justin touch of cramming as much giving as he can into one event.  Rudd has asked anyone coming to Fix Long Beach, even if they don’t have a pet in the race, to bring along nonperishable foods such as pasta, jars of peanut butter and macaroni and cheese as well as socks for the clients of the Long Beach AIDS Food Store. We hope you’ll add to the pile.

Heel, girls. It’s not always about you. Bring human nonperishable food to Fix Long Beach’s clinic on Saturday.

The old saw says that dogs are man’s (or pick your gender’s) best friend. This effort from CAT is a back-atcha from the pets that Fix Long Beach helps.

Meanwhile, here are a few candidates from Fix Long Beach, which has its paws in rescue as well.

Nola is a high-energy border collie/Lab mix. She was saved from the streets of Long Beach and has spent several months in foster acclimating to a home life. She is a real love bug, is fully potty trained, and would do well with a human who’ll give her plenty of outdoor exercise and a safe harbor indoors. She’s a dream on leash and enjoys meeting other dogs. Adoption fee: $350.

Peter is about 8 years old and 8 pounds. He’s housetrained and fully vetted. His little face has a scholarly look, but he definitely prefers play to study! He’s great with small to medium dogs, but he’s afraid of large dogs and will chase cats. Peter had a hard beginning—you should have seen him before Fix Long Beach got hold of him! Adoption fee: $350.

Darby is about 4 months old and growing like a weed. She’s currently in foster care with other cats and dogs, so she’ll be happy to be in a home playing with other critters. Darby is a little spitfire, but when she’s done raising heck, she’s sweet and loving. Adoption fee: $180.

Hey, paisan! It’s Mario and Luigi, two adorable little “chugs”—Chihuahua and pug, of course. Mario is about 20 pounds, and Luigi is a little smaller. As you can tell from the photo, they’re a happy little duo! They’re pretty well bonded, and it would be great for them to be adopted together. Adoption fee: $400 for both.

To inquire about any of these pets, email [email protected]. All adoption fees cover their spay or neuter, vaccinations, microchips and any other veterinary work that was necessary. To see more Fix Fosters, visit this link; donate to Fix Long Beach here.

Things to Do, Pets to Support

Find Some Bunny to Love Adoption: To Oct. 31, shelter hours, P. D. Pitchford Companion Animal Village, 7700 E. Spring St., Long Beach. $30 adoption fee.

October may not be the month when you typically think of rabbits, but no matter—all animals need homes and there’s no special day for that. Long Beach Animal Care Services (ACS) and spcaLA will be offering a special adoption rate of $30 per set of long ears for the entire month of October. Potential adopters must meet all the requirements.

Fix Long Beach Free Spay/Neuter Clinic—sponsored by Justin Rudd and his nonprofit Community Action Team: Saturday, Oct. 13, 9 a.m.–3 p.m., Long Beach Marine Stadium, 5225 E. Paoli Way, Long Beach, free spay/neuter for qualifying Long Beach residents; free microchips; shots, flea-med doses, dewormers and nail trimmings $10 each.

It’s 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. Make an appointment through IM or email at [email protected]and include (1) your name, (2) address, (3) phone number, (4) pet’s name, (5) age, (6) sex, (7) breed, and (8) weight. Standby is available at 8:30 a.m.

Vouchers are provided through Long Beach Animal Care Services (ACS) Spay/Neuter Assistance Voucher Program for pets without appointments or dogs too large to fit on the vehicle—they may be used at specified veterinary clinics. For both spay/neuter and vaccinations, all dogs must be on sturdy leashes and all cats must be in dedicated carriers.

Fourth annual Home at Last adoption event: Saturday, Oct. 13, 11 a.m.–3 p.m., Centinela Feed and Pet Supplies, 4700 E. PCH, Long Beach. Adoption fees vary.

Coldwell Banker Coastal Alliance is again teaming up with Centinela Feed and Pet Supplies for their pet adoption event, as part of the Coldwell Banker Home for Dogs Project. CBCA’s mission is to help raise awareness about adopting a rescue/shelter animal. Raffle-ticket sales will raise money for the participating animal rescue groups.

Stray Cat Alliance presents Stray Cat Club Gala: Saturday, Oct. 13, 6:30 p.m., Montage Beverly Hills, 225 North Canon Drive, Beverly Hills. Tickets $300 and up, available here.

Stray Cat Alliance is a nonprofit organization that educates and empowers people to advocate for the health and safety of every cat, everywhere. In Long Beach and in other communities, volunteers have assisted residents in the process of trapping, spaying/neutering and returning (TNR) the cats who live, homeless, in neighborhoods and continue to bring thousands of unwanted kittens into the world. Their yearly gala helps fund SCA’s programs; this year’s features a VIP and cocktail receptions, silent and live auctions, a magician, a psychic who’ll read your paws, a vegan dinner, and a program featuring actor/comedian Hal Sparks as host. Veddy, veddy dec-cat-dent!

17th annual Interfaith Blessing of the Pets, presented by Justin Rudd and the nonprofit Community Action Team and Haute Dogs: Sunday, Oct. 14, sunset at 5:45 p.m., Granada Boat Landing, 1 Granada Ave., Long Beach. Free.

Bring any well-behaved pet who doesn’t mind a crowd of people and animals to this beautiful event. Ministers from a number of faiths will administer blessings to cats, dogs, lizards, birdies, reptiles and even farm animals. If you have a pet who prefers to stay at home or who has passed on, bring a photo or something belonging to him or her. Pets may not actually need to be blessed, but we’re blessed through them.

Boats ’n’ Barks Fund-Raiser Cocktail Pawty: Sunday, Oct. 14, 4–9 p.m., Boathouse on the Bay, 190 N. Marina Drive, Long Beach. Drink prices vary.

Join Live Love Animal Rescue for a delightful evening of drinks, complimentary finger food and great dogs who’ll be trying to swipe the goodies from your plate. Your dog is welcome. Proceeds go to Live Love. Sponsored by the Karen T. Hilburn Foundation.

California Turtle & Tortoise Club Care Society Chapter, Long Beach ‘Oct-Turtle-Fest,’ Oct. 19, 7:30 p.m., University Baptist Church, 3434 Chatwin Ave., Long Beach. Free to attend

Features presentation on rare box turtles by USC biology professor Dr. Craig Stanford. Costume party with bratwurst and hot dogs follows; please bring side dishes or dessert. Turtles, tortoises and humans welcome.

Pup-Crawl for Dog-toberfest, to Benefit Fix Long Beach, sponsored in part by “Long Beach Post”: Saturday, Oct. 20, 5–9 p.m., Red Leprechaun, 4000 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach. Tickets: $50; includes drink tickets and appetizer.

Hop on The Big Red Bus and let them do the driving! Fix Long Beach’s fund-raiser begins at Red Leprechaun and stops at Malainey’s Grill, Shenanigans and Gallagher’s. Your ticket includes a drink ticket for beer, wine or champagne, and appetizers at one location. Meet at the Red Leprechaun at 5:00 p.m. for 6:00 p.m. All proceeds will go toward Fix’s goal of spay/neuter and rescue in the LBC. Thank you, Long Beach Post, for sponsoring this wild ride!

Strut Your Mutt

Best Friends “Strut Your Mutt”: Saturday, Oct. 20, 11 a.m., Exposition Park, 700 Exposition Park Drive, Los Angeles. Visit the page to join a team, form a team, or register as an individual.

Join a team or register as an individual as Best Friends Animal Society and partner rescue groups, shelters and animal welfare organizations walk to save lives at Strut Your Mutt in L.A. The event starts with a celebratory walk (dog not required) and includes a family-friendly festival with food trucks, vendors and lots of fun activities. Last year, over 1,000 people raised more than $400,000 for lifesaving programs such as spay-and-neuter services and adoption events.

National Pit Bull Appreciation Day: Saturday, Oct. 27, 10 a.m.–3 p.m., Marina Vista Park, East Colorado Street, Long Beach. Free event; adoption and vendor price rates apply.

Come help these funny, misunderstood doggies and their friends at the inaugural National Pit Bull Appreciation Day! Live Love Animal Rescue is partnering up with Blockhead Brigade for an event featuring local vendors, a “pack walk,” food, yoga with your dog, adoptions and other highlights. All breeds, creeds and loving humans are welcome.

Haute Dog’s 18th Annual Howl’oween Parade: Sunday, Oct. 28, 12:30–4:30 p.m., near Colorado Lagoon, 5355 Eliot St., Long Beach. Free to spectate; entry registration and seat reservation information available here; full schedule of information available here.

Will you go as a Hound of Baskerville? Or Cujo? Or a poodly princess in a pink petticoat? Justin Rudd and his Community Action Team, along with Third District councilmember Suzie Price, will present the biggest Halloween pet event in the world—and the most enjoyable one! Enjoy a vendor and pet-adoption fair from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m., and don’t miss (as if you could!) the highlight of the day: over 500 costumed dogs parading a few blocks in front of a few thousand gawkers and a panel of judges! $10 advance for each dog who enters the parade, but there’s no charge for humans to walk in the parade with or without costumes and with or without pets. Free to spectate.

7th annual Fall Fund-Raiser, to benefit No Stray Left Behind and The Cat Cove: Saturday, Nov. 5, 5 p.m., Eat at Joe’s, 7120 Edinger Ave., Huntington Beach. $25 admission, menu prices vary; see flyer for details.

Dogs fostered through No Stray Left Behind and cats curled up at The Cat Cove want your attendance at this fund-raiser that includes live music, a menu of food and activities. Eat at Joe’s will also donate a portion of food and drink sales to the rescues.

Ongoing

Pet Adoption Locations

The following pet-related businesses regularly feature cat, dog and rabbit adoptions. If you’re a Long Beach-area rescue and don’t see your adoption event listed here, please email [email protected].

Petco Animal Supplies, Marina Shores, 6500 Pacific Coast Highway, Long Beach

Unleashed by Petco, 600 Redondo Ave.

PetSmart, Long Beach Exchange, 3871 N Lakewood Blvd., Long Beach

PetSmart Signal Hill, 2550 Cherry Ave., Signal Hill

PetSmart Compton, 1775 South Alameda St., Compton

PetSmart Seal Beach, 12341 Seal Beach Blvd., Seal Beach.

Pet Food Express, 4220 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach:

 Gelson’s Market, 6255 E. 2nd St.

Bank of America, 5101 East Second St., Long Beach

Low-Cost Pet-Vaccination Clinics: For schedule, visit this link

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.

Free Pet Food Distributions

Pet food is available at Beacon for Him Ministries, 439 West Anaheim St., Mondays from 9 a.m. to noon and Saturdays from noon to 3 p.m. A dog-washing station with a stainless-steel tub is also available onsite at these hours. Donations and supplies such as shampoo, flea control meds and pet food are always gratefully accepted.

The Pet Food Bank is sponsored by Christian Outreach in Action, located at 515 E. 3rd St., Long Beach. Hours are Thursday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Pets of the Homeless provides many collection places across the country to help homeless people to feed and care for their animals. Please support them through a cash donation, or bring pet food to the Long Beach-area drop-off center, Trendi Pawz Grooming, 3726 E 7th St., Long Beach. Access this link for resources and donation areas in SoCal and across the country.

Shelter Enrichment - Copy

Shelter-enrichment supplies requested for ACS’s cats, dogs and rabbits: drop-off Wednesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m.–4 p.m., shelter side of P.D. Pitchford Companion Animal Village, 7700 E. Spring St., Long Beach

Creamy peanut butter, yogurt, beef and chicken broth, pipe cleaners, toilet-paper and paper-towel rolls, catnip, canned pet food, wine-bottle corks (for cat toys) and ice cube trays all are needed. Donations are tax deductible.