Although this event took place a couple of weeks ago, the information has no expiration date. Too lengthy, it’s divided into three articles: care, training and cruelty prevention. This part focuses on pet care. For a full PowerPoint presentation, visit prosecutor Doug Haubert’s website. — KK
The second Animal Care and Cruelty Prevention Conference, presented by the Office of the Long Beach City Prosecutor and Animal Care Services (ACS) and held Thursday evening, March 21, should have been better attended that it was. The room wasn’t empty by any means, but the event was scheduled on the same evening as LBUSD’s Open House, and that’s where involved parents were. Too bad—this conference, as city prosecutor Doug Haubert had promised, covered more ground than last year’s did.
“They need to take the show on the road and start to hit the neighborhoods that truly need to learn about responsible pet ownership,” wrote Kym Cloughesy, former LBPD police service specialist and this year’s Mrs. Long Beach, on a Facebook post. “There needs to be direct education about spay/neuter and why it is so vitally important. The other component needs to be that ACS and animal rescue groups cannot do it alone. This is an issue that takes everyone to make a difference.”
Tigger and human companion Uli check out the preconference displays, which included Friends of Long Beach Animals, Pet Post USA, the Pet Assistance Foundation, and Go Fetch. Raffle prizes included a $700 dental treatment from Dr. Ata “Dr. A” Abrishami of Bixby Animal Hospital and microchip vouchers from ACS.
The conference was intended for everyone who lives with or cares for a pet, wants to get one, or lives near or knows someone who has one. The first part of the event was dedicated to animal care. Dr. Margaret Lee, DVM, veterinarian for ACS, and Alex Macias, ACS’s adoption specialist, led the care and training segments. I’ll recap Dr. Lee’s points here and will do the same for Macias’ in the next segment.
Providing Creature Comforts
- Basic care involves food, water, shelter and high-quality pet food. Dr. Lee said that the pet food industry is highly regulated, so providing your pet with good nutrition is simple.
- Secondary care—not so simple or basic. If you have a pet or are planning to get one, checkups are a must.
- Annual vaccines are important for immunization against disease, including rabies. Even house cats who stay indoors at all times could contract rabies from bats, which are small enough to flit into the house and deliver a bite. The Health Department has reported several cases of rabid bats and infections from them in several California counties, Los Angeles included.
- Cat licensing is mandatory in Long Beach, and rabies shots every three years is also required. There’s concern from some pet owners about the effects of the vaccines on cats. Dr. Lee said that there are some options available, particularly if the cat has a serious illness. A cat rabies form deferment may be accessed here; consult with your vet before completing it.
- Grooming involves more than assuring that your pet can trot down the runway and garner admiration. Neglecting grooming can be bad for a cat’s or a dog’s well-being; coats entangled with matts, skin raw with fleabites, and unclipped nails grown into the pads all affect an animal’s coat.
- As with our own, we must keep our pets’ teeth healthy. Dr. Lee recommended professional tooth cleaning and brushing your dog’s or cat’s teeth (oh, stop smirking!). Painful abscesses can result from neglecting dental care, and plaque can affect a pet’s heart. Special toothbrushes and fangpaste are available at the vet’s or pet-supply stores.
Healthy-Family-Pet.com
- Again as with humans, secondhand smoke is dangerous to pets. Cats in particular lick away particles from their fur when they groom themselves and are four times more susceptible to squamous cell carcinoma if they’re regularly exposed to tobacco smoke. All pets can get sinus or nasal cancer.
- Human medications, xylitol in sugar-free gum and candy, certain foods, and pesticides—this includes your pet eating an animal who has ingested a pesticide—are all toxic in some way to animals. Outdoor and indoor plants can sicken or kill an animal; ACS has a listing of harmful plants and household hazards on its website.
- Finally, as I often write, it’s a very good idea to spay or neuter your pet; I’d say it’s necessary. Lee said that altering a pet will increase chances of a longer, healthier life. Spaying lessens the risk of mammarian cancer and urinary-tract infections in female dogs and reduces testicular cancer and prostate problems in males. Behavior (and odor) will improve; elimination of heat cycles will take with it yowling and most spraying in cats. Pets will be less likely to beat it out of the house during mating season and will thus be less likely to get run over—Lee said that most animals they see at the shelter that have been hit by cars are intact. Best of all, spaying and neutering reduce shelter and rescue overpopulation. “And it won’t make your pet fat,” Lee added.
He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beatof his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.
~ Unknown
Read Up on ‘Ag-Gag’ Bill
Speaking of animal cruelty prevention, Judie Mancuso, founder of Social Compassion in Legislation, is asking for public help in voicing opposition to Assembly Bill 343, which looks good on the surface but actually is designed to limit the report of abuse in the cattle industry. AB 343 is authored by Assemblyman Jim Patterson, R-Fresno, and as I understand it, the bill limits the reporting of animal abuse by requiring witnesses to any animal abuse situation to videotape the act and turn it over to the authorities within 48 hours or face a fine (see text here).
What is notable is that the bill designates animals in general but is being pushed by the California Cattleman’s Association. This seems to specify an interest, ya think? Mancuso and other animal advocates point out that one reported instance of animal cruelty—such as using a forklift to force a sick or injured cow to stand—is not sufficient to prove ongoing abuse and furthermore limits in-depth investigation. An editorial in The Sacramento Bee also suggested that an employee who reports such a situation could face retaliation “with no guarantee that his or her identity would be protected, or that authorities would act on the information….If that worker shared the video with a journalist, the journalist would need time to verify its authenticity and do further reporting. That would take longer than 48 hours, or even 72 hours….If the journalist ultimately used the video, he or she would be exposing the source to possible fines and retaliation from an employer.”
“This awful bill and others like it attempt to turn the good guy into the bad guy,” Mancuso said. “Exposing animal cruelty, and standing up for voiceless animals who are abused on factory farms and in food production is a right, not a privilege, and when sick animals enter the food supply, it is a public safety issue as well.”
Mancuso provided links to the Bee article as well as one from the Los Angeles Times and another from the U-T San Diego, all of which provide support for defeating this bill. She also asks opponents to call or fax Assembly Member Susan Talamantes Eggman, Chair of the Agriculture Committee, [phone (916) 319-2084, fax (916) 319-2184], before Friday, April 12. To contact Assemblyman Patterson, call (916) 319-2023. The bill will be heard April 17 at 1:30 PM at the State Capitol, Room 126.
Virtually Pets
Here are some of the cats and dogs reigning at the shelter. To meet or adopt any of them, visit Animal Care Services (ACS) on the shelter side of the Companion Animal Village at 7700 East Spring St., Long Beach, (562) 570-PETS.
Sinatra is a male brown tabby, about 7 years old. Because he’s been neutered, the only crooning he’ll do is an appreciated mrowp on your lap. Ask for ID #A488748.
Johnny’s obviously been around the block a few times–looks as if Frankie from the semieponymous song got hold of his ear–and he’s only 4 years old. He’s been neutered and is well taken care of at our shelter, but he’d sure like a permanent safe harbor and a loving forever home. Ask for ID#A492370.
Can’t say it enough—purebreds get dumped in shelters. Ask Blossom. She’s a 7-year-old spayed female tricolor beagle. Ask for ID#A488078.
I thought that Rosalind, age 6, was just another adorable mutt. Then I find out that she’s something called a Nova Scotia Duck-Tolling Retriever. I checked it out, and yup, the breed exists. They were bred to lure (toll) and retrieve ducks for hunters. I have no idea what a dog would do to lure a duck or even how she wound up in the shelter—maybe she trotted on down to the El Dorado Nature Center and got a stern rebuff from Gerrie Schipske or my buddy Mary who’s an Auduboner—but at any rate, she’s at the shelter. She’s been bred to hunt, so if you’re interested, adopt her and hide a few rubber duckies around the house or some decoys for her to chaw on. And leave it at that. She’s been spayed and is a sweetie.
Pet Projects
Saturday, April 13, Two Low-Cost Pet-Care Clinics, 9–10:30 AM, Scherer Park, 4600 Long Beach Blvd.; Good Neighbor Park, 2800 N Studebaker Road, 12:30–2PM
As part of their low-cost clinic project, Long Beach Animal Care Services (ACS) will vaccinate any animal, regardless of where it lives, and will also as sell licensing for animals residing in Long Beach, Signal Hill, Cerritos, Los Alamitos and Seal Beach. Please bring your expired license or last rabies certificate with you to the clinic so the veterinarian can make sure your pet gets properly vaccinated. For more information and pricing, please click here or call 562-570-7387.
Thursday, April 18, Long Beach Animal Care Services (ACS) Fund-Raiser, Veggie Grill, The Marketplace, 6451 Pacific Coast Hwy., 4–10PM
Do you know what happens if you eat aaaaaaaaaaaaallll your vegetables? The dogs at ACS will get a new air-conditioning system and won’t have to suffer through the dog days, and life will improve considerably for all forever-home hopefuls in the shelter. The Veggie Grill, which cooks up stuff that’s so good that even cauliflower is appetizing there, will donate 50 percent of the six-hour purchase total to ACS. Print out the flier or mention it when you sit down.
Saturday, April 20, Animal Blessing, Unitarian Universalist Church of Long Beach (UUCLB), 5450 East Atherton Street, Long Beach, 11AM–3PM
As part of UUCLB’s 100-year-anniversary festival, the church’s minister emerita the Rev. Marguerite Lovett will conduct an animal blessing. These blessings have been an annual event for many years and were always very popular with the larger community. Everyone from any belief system—or none—is welcome to attend with their companion animals who do okay in crowds and in the company of other animals. The blessing is part of the community-oriented, family-friendly Time Warp Festival: Party Like It’s 1913, which is free and open to all. Along with the blessing, the festival will include musicians, social-justice projects, a living museum, food, an ice-cream social, and an appearance by “Fanny Bixby.”
Sunday, May 19, spcaLA May Foster Class, P.D. Pitchford Companion Animal Village and Education Center, 7700 E. Spring St., Long Beach, 10AM–noon
Foster pets need temporary loving homes. This will help better their chances of adoption, and you can help! Potential foster parents (of all ages!) must fill out and submit an application, available here before attending class.