Virtually Pets

On Saturday, June 6, Fix Long Beach will return to serve local pet owners in their new location at 1749 Magnolia Ave., Long Beach. Entrance for clients is from the alley only—do not enter the building. This weekend’s clinic is for dogs only, but one for cats will take place June 20.

Drop-off and pickup will be drive-thru, and all the services that Fix usually offers—$10 vaccinations and flea meds, discount spay/neuter vouchers, $5 nail trims, free microchips—will be available for both cats and dogs. Appointments for future clinics are available. Read further details in Help wanted, help given.

For the safety of your pets and Fix’s volunteers, please have your dog on a sturdy leash and put your cat into a carrier, for their vaccines. For the safety and health of all humans, everyone must wear a face mask.

I was going to make a weak joke about people needing face muzzles, but nothing’s funny to me or probably you right now. At this time, emotions are high concerning the events of this past week. As a volunteer for Fix Long Beach, I want to express that we all hurt along with you: the small businesses and the residents along the corridors where we’ve had our clinics; the pet-supply stores that have generously donated to us; Thai Silk restaurant, which served us quite a few delicious lunches; and every one of our clients and their pets who have benefitted from Fix’s services and passed it all forward. We’ll continue to help make things better. Love and support to you all.

Here are two of Fix Long Beach’s adoptable fosters. To adopt either dog, request an application on the website. Both are fixed, up to date on their vaccines and given microchips.

brown terrier mix sitting up with head cocked on a pink towel on a car set with a cooler beside her
Naisha, an 11-month old Jack Russell terrier mix, was abandoned on the streets with her siblings. She wandered, starved, skinny, filthy and sad, to a local store in search of food and water. A volunteer rescued Naisha, and she was put into a foster home. She’s needy of human companionship—she gets attached very quickly, and if you go anywhere, she wants to go! She’s great with other dogs and is a quick learner. She’s housetrained and pee-pad trained, and she hopes to hit the lottery with a great family, kids in particular and even another dog.

 

small brown dog with white chest blazelies on a bright, blue-print bedspread with a duckie toy next to her.
Maggie, also 11 months old, is a poodle/terrier mix. Her owner moved away and left her behind—in fact, she was abandoned by two owners! She’ll need a calm, understanding adopter—one who’ll give her the security of a forever home. She’s shy at first but becomes a sweet, loving girl when she gets used to the people around her. She’s also intelligent and is housetrained and pee-pad trained. She’s good with other dogs as well as cats, and is obedient—she loves to be spoiled, especially regarding her feeding dish. She likes to ride in the car, but a seatbelt is needed so she won’t run out the door or jump out the window.

 

If you can see the bottom of the kibble bag:

a pile of pet food and pet accessories
Residents in need will benefit from the generosity of the community members that provided all this pet food. It will be distributed June 20. Photo courtesy of Friends of Long Beach Animals.

 

Friends of Long Beach Animals has postponed its June 4 pet-food giveaway in front of the Expo Center in Bixby Knolls to June 20, with location to be announced. The organization thanks the community, Centinela Pets and the ASPCA for their generous donations during their May food drive. The 3 tons of food collected will help feed our community’s pets. Meanwhile, if anyone’s in great need of food, please contact Friends of Long Beach Animals at [email protected].

Helen Sanders CatPAWS offers, through specific private donors, e-gift cards for people struggling during the crisis to buy food for their pets. The CatPAWS Spay/Neuter Fund, also privately funded, offers vouchers to cover spay/neuter procedures to anyone living in the 5 cities in the Long Beach shelter’s service area—Long Beach, Seal Beach, Los Alamitos, Signal Hill and Cerritos.

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, 3726 E. 7th St., 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 to 11 a.m. Donations will be gratefully accepted at these locations as well.

Help needed, help offered

Fix Long Beach returns to hosting free free spay/neuter clinics to support the pets of our community members who need help caring for them. This month, a clinic confirmed for Saturday, June 6, 9 a.m.–3 p.m. sharp, will focus on dogs, and another on Saturday, June 20, 9 a.m.–1p.m., will help cats. Both clinics will offer vaccines for either species at $10 each, $10 flea meds, $5 nail trimming and free microchips. In order to comply with COVID-19 recommendations and for the safety of our clients and volunteers, everyone will be required to wear a mask and the clinics will be drive-thru only. Dogs must be on sturdy leashes, and cats must be confined in dedicated carriers. The clinics will be held at a private business located at 1749 Magnolia Ave, Long Beach. Entrance is from the alley only—do not enter the building. Volunteers will handle drop-off and pickup. The spay/neuter waitlist is closed, but we can schedule for July, and appointments aren’t needed for vaccines and the other services. Vouchers that require a minimal copayment will also be available. Visit us here to make appointments for a spay/neuter procedure and for other information. Long Beach Animal Care Services is seeking individuals to join a rescue task force that would visit neighborhoods to reunite lost pets with their owners and also alert them to resources for needs such as spay and neuter, pet training, food and medical care. Anyone wanting to help people help their pets should contact the shelter’s manager at [email protected] and let her know how you’d like to help in this effort.

Long Beach Animal Care Services has spay/neuter vouchers available. They’ll take a healthy nip out of the cost of a procedure. Residents of any of the five cities served by the shelter—(see above)—can telephone the general number at 562-570-7387 to request a voucher.

The Spay/Neuter Project of Los Angeles (SNP/LA) is back in business for free and low-cost spay/neuter services, and they’re extending the hours of their vaccination clinics. Beginning June 18, the San Pedro clinic, located at 957 N. Gaffey St., will give shots every third Thursday between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. Call  310-574-5555 to see if you qualify for services.

brown and black German shepherd sits on the dirt in a brush-covered area, with yellow flowers in background

Adopt, adopt, adopt

The following pet-related businesses regularly feature cat, dog and rabbit adoptions, but as of now, adoptions are mainly by appointment. Click on the links for each rescue in case of updates or changes. These organizations operate through donations and grants, and anything you can give would be welcome. Please suggest any Long Beach-area rescues to add to the list.