Ready for Cinco de Mayo this Sunday? Margarita ingredients? Check. Appetizers? Yup—hitting Trader Joe’s. Link to Britannica (or at the very least, Wikipedia—they have good citations at the end) to know why the commemoration isn’t just another excuse to get silly drunk? That too. Got your dog?

Well, yes, but huh?

This May 5, the Museum of Latin American Art is celebrating Dog Day (see Things to Do, Pets to Support). If you have dogs, they’ll sure have their day at this celebration of diversity.

Don’t have a dog? Adoption from Long Beach Animal Care Services can fix that. They have different breeds, fur colors, sizes, shapes and personalities. Diversity reigns!

tan boxer in standing position on green lawn with trees in background. He's wearing a collar and attached leash.
This princely fellow is named Nokio (A612229). He’s a 4-year-old boxer, and he’s already neutered. He’s a good guy and wants very much to join a human family.

 

https://www.facebook.com/LongBeachAnimalCare/videos/821228671562519/?t=25

Nothing can better show the personality of Springy (A620678) than a video. As you can see, he’s—well, springy! He’s a tan-and-white Chihuahua and at 2 years old has plenty of years of play ahead of him!

https://www.facebook.com/LongBeachAnimalCare/videos/159036464991801/?t=14

Falkor (A622166) is the name of the lovable dog-faced Luck Dragon who advised people who were at a loss about what to do. He loved everyone and never liked being alone. That’s this guy (and can you see the resemblance?). Falkor is a 5-year-old tan pittie, and it would sure be nice for him to get some luck for a change!

 Long Beach Animal Care Services is located at 7700 E. Spring St., at the entrance to El Dorado Park. No parking fee for shelter visitors. Enter through the Animal Admissions door.

 Things to do, pets to support

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

Ellen Ward Community Yard Sale, sponsored by Signal Hill Community Foundation: Saturday, May 4, 8 a.m.–noon, Signal Hill Park, 2175 Cherry Ave., Signal Hill, item prices vary.

If one of your weekend pleasures is riffling through the stuff and nonsense at yard sales until you find a treasure, come to this neighborhood event—especially if you love animals and want the best for them. Friends of Long Beach Animals Friends of Long Beach Animals will be participating, and they welcome you paw through their stuff! All of their proceeds go toward helping animals in our community. Stop by, and get a brochure to learn more about this wonderful organization!

 

Dog Day at MoLAA, sponsored by DEN Los Angeles Urban Dog Retreat: Sunday, May 5, noon–4 p.m., 628 Alamitos Ave., Long Beach, tickets $15, $10 for members

Cinco de Mayo may commemorate Mexico’s victory over France, but this May 5, the Museum of Latin American Art will celebrate the loving bond between a dog and his or her human! Your ticket, which you can purchase here, will entitle you and your perrito to a place in the sun in the lovely Robert Gumbiner Sculpture and Events Garden and Viva Events Center. There, you’ll enjoy yoga (Downward, Dog!), art workshops (hey, if cats paint, why not dogs?) and a photo booth (say treeeat!). There’ll even be a paw spa where they can paint their toenails steak tartare scarlet and enjoy a massage while you look on with love and envy.

Are you one of those people who love to dress Fido up (and they talk about crazy cat ladies)? Get out the party clothes and sign up for the fashion show! Vendors will be at the fiesta as well, and the museum’s residential artists Chiachio and Giannone will have their huge Pride flag for your dogs to sign with a paw print. Diversity includes our pets, too! And oh yeah—people food will be available for purchase, and there will be a puppy valet if you want to enter the galleries. The museum includes this advisory: By purchasing the ticket, you are taking full responsibility of the actions of your dog. MOLAA will not be responsible for any injury that happens to your dog or that your dog does to others. Your dog must be up to date on their vaccines and must be able to be in a social environment.”

 

Long Beach Animal Care Services Explorer Academy Fundraiser: Wednesday, May 8, restaurant hours (10:30 a.m. –9 p.m., 6429 E. Spring St., Long Beach, menu prices apply.

The Long Beach Animal Care Explorer Academy is open to young people between 15 and 20 to give them practical experience and information about all aspects of animal-related situations at the shelter. This fundraiser will help keep this great program going.

Helen Sanders CatPAWS Bowling Fundraiser: Saturday, May 11, 3–5 p.m., Westminster Lanes, 6471 Westminster Blvd., Westminster, $40 per person, includes food, drink and shoes.

You know that if you draw whiskers on the head of a bowling pin and paste pointed ears on the crown that it’ll resemble a cat sitting up? That and the fact that it’s a good fund-raising idea for the cats and kittens under the care of Helen Sanders CatPAWS rescue. This annual event raises money for food, veterinary bills (they mount) and neonatal care, including the free DIY kits for bottle-feeders that CatPAWS makes available free of charge at the shelter. Details are on the flyer—so roll one down an alley for the alley cats!

small black miniature pinscher curled on floor with his head cocked at camera. Lying on brown rug.

Fix Long Beach Free Spay/Neuter Clinic: Saturday, May 18, 9 a.m.–3 p.m., Ramona Park, 3301 E. 65th St., Long Beach, free spay/neuter for qualifying Long Beach residents, with appointment; free microchips, shots, flea-med doses, dewormers and nail trimmings $10 each—no appointment necessary. Appointments available for future clinics—come make one. Full details are available here.

Fur Baby Beach Ball fund-raiser for Live Love Animal Rescue: Saturday, May 18, 4–8 p.m.; location tba to ticket buyers; $50 online, $60 at door.

Live Love Rescue has pulled hundreds of otherwise unwanted dogs from shelters and fostered or adopted out just as many. All that vetting, neutering, spaying and training costs money. What better way to fund it all than with an exclusive Hamptons-type do at a private home? All dogs and their well-behaved humans are welcome!

Kitty Hall: : Tuesday, May 21, 2–5 p.m., Long Beach City Hall, 333 E. Broadway, Long Beach, $20 adoption fee.

Cats and kittens from area shelters and rescues will lobby for good homes during this successful event. Each of them will enjoy his or her own platform, as long as something’s dangling over it.

Friends of Long Beach Animals Annual Membership Meeting, with Long Beach Animal Care Services manager Staycee Dains: Thursday, May 23, 6:30–9:30 p.m., Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach, free

Friends of Long Beach Animals, founded in 1990, is among the most venerable pet-welfare nonprofits in town. This year’s membership meeting will also be a welcoming party for Staycee Dains, Long Beach Animal Care Services’ new manager. The job is no bed of catnip, so this will be an easy meet-and-greet, with appetizers, wine, beer and conversation with Staycee! Please RSVP at 562-988-7647 or [email protected].

Fix Long Beach’s ‘A Fistful of Dollars’ Casino Night: Saturday, June 22, 6–10:30 p.m., Cosmic Brewery, 20316 Gramercy Place, Torrance, $20 per ticket, available here.

It shouldn’t be a gamble to see whether Fix Long Beach can spay and neuter as many cats and dogs as possible as well as support the fosters. But it sure can be a neat way to fund the clinics, if last year’s event was any indication! The event includes a burger bar with a vegan option, s’more bar, discounts on beer and wine, and $50 casino cash for full-size craps, poker, roulette and blackjack tables. Come dressed to win in your favorite Western wear, and have fun during the Best Moustache contest; the 50/50 drawing; the silent auction; which includes some amazing trips; and the opportunity drawing. Prizes will go to the biggest casino winners. Tickets are available here.

Ongoing

Adopt, adopt, adopt

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].

Chase Bank, 5200 East Second St., Long Beach

 Gelson’s Market, 6255 E. 2nd St.

Kahoots Pet Store, 18681 Main St. #102, Huntington Beach

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

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

PetSmart Cerritos, 12741 Towne Center Dr, Cerritos

PetSmart Compton, 1775 South Alameda St., Compton

PetSmart Garden Grove, 9835 Chapman Ave, Garden Grove

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

PetSmart Signal Hill, 2550 Cherry Ave., Signal Hill

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

Unleashed by Petco, 600 Redondo Ave.

Donations accepted for Pets of the Homeless

Pets of the Homeless’ home page gives a self-description as the only organization focusing only on providing food and care for pets belonging to homeless people. Businesses and other organizations across the country receive in-kind donations of food and other needs that the dogs and cats’ human families can pick up at outreach locations. The following Long Beach businesses will accept your donations:

Trendi Pawz, 255 Redondo Ave., Long Beach

Belmont Heights Animal Hospital, 255 Redondo Ave., Long Beach

Paw Shoppe Pet Center, Inc., 6416 E. Spring St., Long Beach

Food and supplies are available at Beacon for Him Ministries, 1535 Gundry Ave. Long Beach, Mondays from 9 a.m. to noon and Saturdays from noon to 3 p.m.; and at Christian Outreach in Action, 515 E. 3rd St., Long Beach, Thursday from 9-11 a.m. Donations will be gratefully accepted at these locations as well.

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

Canned kitten food (Royal Canin), 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.