
Several months ago, we began planning what we conceived of as a four-part series on pet overpopulation. This was during the salad days of our column, when we met at the kitchen table not with salads but full pots of espresso and a shopping list of great ideas, and then took to our laptops to put them into poster-reality.
We planned to tie the whole thing up with a video tour through Long Beach Animal Care Services to meet the new director. We collected a few questions from LBPOST readers—some supportive of the shelter, some skeptical—and put our ducks in order, metaphorically speaking. We finally conducted an hour-long interview with the new bureau manager, John Keisler, filmed by our dauntless editor, Ryan ZumMallen.
It was about a month before the first part was finally shown—we all had other stuff to do—and we stretched out the time between parts one and four of our project with timely topics that came scratching at our door. Same deal went on with Part Two.
Here it is, finally. If your questions weren’t answered, please let us know by posting it, or visit the new website. The site has been updated and is now user-friendly and loaded with information. Of particular interest is the organization regarding chain of command, and which official is in charge of each function; enforcement of breeding, anticruelty and other animal-related laws, plus city codes; photo galleries for adoption and lost animals (a real service to anyone who’s searching for the one who got away); and of course FAQs, which contain information on creature issues great and small. In this New Year, check out the Mission Statement, which surely is ACS’s resolution list. It’s up to us to keep them to it, and for us as well to match.
“It only takes one visit to an animal shelter to see why it’s important to spay or neuter your pets.”
– Hillary Duff, actress and spay/neuter advocate