Virtually Pets
On Saturday, the new Pet Food Express in Bixby Knolls will have an adoption event that features pets from the shelter. The cats pictured loll around in condos with a view of the store and are tended to by personal valets for playtime, housekeeping and dining. What could be better than that? A forever home with loving humans is the only thing I can come up with.
Tilly is a 5-year-old Chihuahua who’s both shy and curious at the same time. She’s described by shelter staff as a “real smarty-pants.” Ask for A576253.
Charlie is a 6-year-old boy who, like many poodles, is very smart. He’s also affectionate and sweet—and blind. He’ll do great in a home where his seeing-eye human can help him memorize his surroundings. Ask for A574758.
This girl is a steel-furred beauty. Her name’s Tater Tot, and she’s very social with people. She’s powerful yet demonstrates the gentleness that Staffies are well known for. She’ll need some exercise to keep her fit and trim. Ask for A574784
Fun, loving and engaging is all you can ask for in a kitty, and 2-year-old Marvin has all that plus so much more. This kitty knows full well the pleasures of the human experience—give him a home, a sunlit window and a lap to purr on, and he’ll fill your life with love and joy. Ask for A573984.
Ferdinand, about 3 years old, is a neutered male tabby who relishes chin and cheek rubs. His silver fur will go with anything, but it’s his sweet personality that shines! Ask for A567609.
Tinkerbelle at 11 months old is barely out of kittenhood and would so appreciate a long life with a loving person or people! She’s friendly, smart and loves a lap. Ask for A570827.
Mark Your Calendars (the People Way)
Grisha Stewart Seminar: Building Cooperation, Confidence and Social Skills, September 2, 2:00PM–4:00PM, , PD Pitchford Companion Animal Village & Education Center, 7700 East Spring Street (at entrance to El Dorado Park Nature Center), Long Beach
$39 when you register here
Looking for a great way to jump-start your dog training and have a stronger relationship with your dog? Or maybe you’re a professional trainer looking for better ways to train or explain? Professional dog trainer and author Grisha Stewart has a unique perspective on life with dogs. Her training style focuses on using clear communication and empowerment to teach behavior that improves the quality of life for everyone in the family, including the dog!
Dog Adoption Event
Saturday, September 3, 11:00AM–3:00PM, Pet Food Express, 4220 Long Beach Boulevard, Long Beach
Adoption fees apply
Find your new best friend and everything that he or she could ever want or need, in one place. Long Beach Animal Care Services (ACS) and other rescues will be bringing some wonderful 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 while you’re there!
Los Cerritos Wetlands Turtle Trek
Saturday, September 3, 8:00AM–10:00AM, First Street and PCH, Long Beach/Seal Beach
Free
Come join us for a guided nature walk and tour of Los Cerritos Wetlands, hosted by Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust and led by naturalists from Tidal Influence. We will look for wildlife sightings, learn about the rich ecosystems, reflect on history and see current restoration activities. Our walk begins with a brief orientation to our wetlands. We will discuss their history and see an important portion of them, including the Pumpkin Patch property, as we walk along the San Gabriel River and on across Second Street to view the sea turtles. On our return, we will stop at Zedler Marsh, where there is a nursery for wetlands plants and where restoration is in process. We will then walk on the levee back to our meeting place. Bring binoculars, if you have them; besides the turtles, we will observe many different kinds of interesting wildlife. Meet at the driveway near First and PCH; close-toed shoes are required; bring sunscreen and water. The event is family friendly, but no strollers, please. Event will be cancelled if it’s raining. For more information or to rsvp, email [email protected].
Fix Long Beach Free Spay/Neuter Clinic
Saturday, September 10, 7:30AM–4:00PM, Houghton Park, 6500 Atlantic Avenue (near Jordan High), Long Beach
Free to qualifying residents; free microchips; low-cost shots ($10 each); $10 flea med doses
The grassroots free spay/neuter organization Fix Long Beach invites you to make an appointment for your unfixed dog, or get vouchers for free procedures for your dog or cat! These clinics are generously sponsored through Hope for Paws and Eldad Hagar.
Visit this link for qualifications and an application for your appointment. There is also a donation button to help Fix Long Beach continue their efforts. Click the organization’s Amazon Wish List link to donate items, or bring them to the event if you find a better deal!
Let’s continue to help make Long Beach no kill, one pet at a time!
spcaLA Veggie Grill Fund-Raiser
Saturday, September 10, noon–4:00PM, Veggie Grill Restaurant, 6451 Pacific Coast Highway, Long Beach
Menu prices apply
Eat a healthy lunch and help animals keep their health! During the specified hours, mention spcaLA Fundraiser and Veggie Grill will donate 33 percent of the check to the organization.
ACS Manager Guest Speaker at West Gateway Community Association (WECA)
Monday, September 12, 6:00PM, 11th Floor Sky Room at Plymouth West Apartments, 240 Chestnut Avenue, Long Beach
Free
The public is invited to the WECA community meeting featuring guest speaker Ted Stevens, Manager of Long Beach Animal Care Services during their September monthly meeting. Stevens will explain the innovations he and his staff have implemented to improve the lives of animals, including the smartphone App to help increase pet adoptions and the recently launched Twitter feed #LBLostFoundPets to help reunite lost pets with their owners.
“We are immensely excited to partner with Long Beach Animal Care Services to achieve their goal to save more animals at the shelter that is supported by Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, First District Councilwoman Lena Gonzalez and the Long Beach City Council,“ said Beth Cino, WECA president. “West Gateway Association looks forward to educating our constituents about ACS’s use of social media to improve the lives of our pets and residents. Animal Care Services’ record year in 2015 with saving animals indicates their strategy has been effective.”
For more information please contact Beth Cino (WGCA) at (562) 360-9736 or email [email protected].
Fix Long Beach’s Inaugural Half-St. Patrick’s Day Fundraiser
Saturday, September 17, 5:00PM–9:00PM, Timeless Pints Brewing Company, 3671 Industry Avenue, Lakewood
$25 a ticket
Hey, it’s always St. Patrick’s Day somewhere! OK, maybe that doesn’t apply here, but six months away from the day is as good an excuse as any to raise funds for spay/neuter, and who needs their arm twisted to have beer and dinner? That’s what the ticket price will get you—vegetarian options are offered, of course—and between that and the proceeds from the silent auction, with some great prizes, will help to provide free spay/neuter procedures, free microchips, and low-cost shots and flea meds to the pets of Long Beach residents who can’t otherwise afford them. Visit this link to buy tickets and for further information! To see what Fix Long Beach is all about, visit their Facebook page!
Second Annual ‘Home at Last’ Adoption Event
Saturday, September 17, 11:00AM–3:00PM, Centinela Feed and Pet Supplies, 4700 PCH (in shopping mall with Staples and Circle Car Wash, , Long Beach
Adoption fees apply
Here it is: another one-stop adoption event where you can not only find your new BFF forever but also pick up quality food, collars and other accessories for him or her! See flyer for details. The event is made possible by a partnership between AdoptaPet.com and the Coldwell Banker Homes for Dogs Project.
spcaLA Dancing with Dogs Recital and Classes
Recital Saturday, September 17, 7:00PM; Freestyle Classes Sunday, September 18, 10:30AM–4:00PM, PD Pitchford Companion Animal Village & Education Center, 7700 East Spring Street (at entrance to El Dorado Park Nature Center), Long Beach
$10 suggested donation at door, which benefits spcaLA
No date for next Saturday? Stay home and dance with Rover, or bring the dog to a dog-friendly patio and trip the light fantastic, probably over his tail. See pets strut their stuff at the recital; learn the moves yourself the next day! Light refreshments will be served. The classes are for participants and their own dogs; audience members are asked to leave their own pets at home..
spcaLA September Foster Class
Sunday, September 18, 10:00AM–noon, P. D. Pitchford Companion Animal Village, spcaLA section, 7700 Spring Street (through entrance to El Dorado Park), Long Beach
Free event; no parking fee for Village visitors
Want to help pets? Become a foster parent by submitting an application and attending a foster class. SpcaLA provides all the supplies; foster parents provide the home and the TLC. Applications are available here.
Surf City Surf Dog 2015. Photo by Dominique Labrecque.
8th Annual Unleashed by Petco Surf City Surf Dog Competition
Friday–Sunday, September 23–25, 8:00AM–3PM for Sunday’s main competition; Huntington Dog Beach and other locations; 100 Goldenwest Street, Huntington Beach
$10 registration fee, which will go directly to the charity of each participant’s choice.
Wurf’s up! Four-footed Gidgets and grommets from California, Florida, Brazil, Australia and where everybody has an ocean will compete for the trophy in the second event of the Double Dog Dare Surf Dog two-part series, whose participants will be scored by World Surf League judges. The competition will cap the three-day event that includes a photo exhibit at the Rainwater Gallery and Events Center, stand-up paddle-boarding with your doggie dude, and a vendor-filled Sur-Fur Expo. For more information, visit the event page.
Ongoing
“Show Us Your Kitties” Fundraiser Calendar Contest
Through Wednesday, September 7
$5 per vote; $10 to reserve a date for your cat
Do you have a favorite photo of your cat? Whether it’s a cheesecake pose on a fake bearskin or a headshot gazing into the camera, you can have him or her featured on the 2017 Helen Sanders CatPAWS calendar and help the organization rescue kitties at the same time! You can also vote for your favorite tabby or tom at $5 a vote or reserve a special commemorative spot to remember your own bewhiskered friend by. See link for details! All funds raised go to CatPAWS.
Bodacious Babes Fund-Raiser Calendar Contest
Through Sunday, September 4
$5 entry fee, $1 per vote; $15 to reserve a date for your favorite animal
The never-ending task to raise funds to save lives. But we keep at it because we believe we can make a difference. Will you help 4Life Animal Rescue by participating in our calendar contest? We want all pets to join in—dogs, cats, horses, bunnies, hamsters, goldfish—whoever makes your life complete! Tell us of their many charms and why they’re your secret weapon for happiness. Together, we can save lives! Visit this link for the rules. Funds raised go to 4Life.
Long Beach Animal Care Services (ACS): Free Spay/Neuter and Wellness Clinics, once monthly; Low-Cost Vaccination Clinics, scheduled days monthly. Locations vary.
See flyer on web page for pricing of services
Beginning this Sunday, February 21, the Society for California Veterinary and Vaccine Care (SCVVC) will offer free spay/neuter procedures and wellness services to residents of the cities served by ACS: Long Beach, Signal Hill, Cerritos, Los Alamitos and Seal Beach. During the remaining weeks of the month, Spay/Neuter Project Los Angeles (SNP/LA) will offer low-cost vaccines, nail trimmings and topical flea treatment for residents of the same areas. Click link for locations and times and click the links next to each event for vaccine pricing and other details.
Pet owners must be 18 years or older. All pets must be on leashes or in carriers. Only healthy and non-pregnant animals will be vaccinated. If you have a prior rabies vaccine certificate, license tag or license renewal notice for your pet, please bring it with you to the clinic. Vaccination and microchip services are provided for pets residing in any city. Licensing service is provided for residents within our jurisdiction. Microchips, flea treatment and nail trimmings also available.
Registration for Team spcaLA for the LA Marathon
Saturday, March 18, 5k; Sunday, March 19, Marathon; Dodger’s Stadium, 1000 Elysian Park Avenue, Los Angeles
5k, $40; Marathon, $175
Join Team spcaLA for the LA Marathon or LA Big 5K and help stop animal cruelty with each step.Visit link for details.
BARK Therapy Dogs Library Appearances
Various area libraries (Long Beach events generally held on Saturdays)
Free event
Dogs love unconditionally. They don’t judge or criticize. And they love a good story. Bring your children to the library to read to these lovely therapy dogs, and watch their confidence in their reading ability grow.
BARK (Beach Animals Reading with Kids) is an all-volunteer group dedicated to increasing children’s reading skills as well as interacting with pets. Check the calendar page on the group’s website, and find out more about this terrific organization.
Free Pet Food Distributions
Food for Pets in Need provides pet food to senior, homeless, low-income and homebound residents in Long Beach who otherwise may not be able to afford adequate food to take proper care of their pets.
The Pet Food Bank is sponsored by Christian Outreach in Action. See flyer for details.