The Scratching Post is a weekly newsletter from pets columnist Kate Karp, bringing you all the latest news on pet adoptions, animal welfare and ways to get involved.
Long Beach animals lost a devoted friend last month. A lot of humans did, too.
Julie Michelle Prewitt died suddenly after midnight on Feb. 6, of acute liver failure and complications from her recent battle with breast cancer. Julie leaves behind her wife, Heidi; her daughter, Katlyn; canine companions Dolly and Igor and feline friend Peeny; her sisters, Megan and Lindsay; her mother, Trisha; her grandmother, Jessie; and countless extended family, friends and community members whose lives she touched.
Julie grew up in Downey, California. Like many animal advocates, she exhibited the childhood quirk of bringing home every animal she thought she needed to. She never outgrew it and never wanted to.
“Any friend that nobody wanted, she was quick to take in,” said Robert Carleton, Julie’s former husband and devoted friend. “She was constantly taking home the most unadoptable feline, rodent and arachnid. She was in a constant cat and mouse game — literally — with landlords, shuttling cats, rats, chinchillas and tarantulas in and out of her apartment.”
Julie’s dream had been to work with animals. She got her start when she moved to Las Vegas and Animal Foundation, a Las Vegas-based shelter and low-cost clinic, offered her an animal-care attendant position. Her passion was in no way dampened by the hard work. After moving back to California, Julie worked at the Orange County Humane Society in Huntington Beach. In 2001, she moved to Long Beach and found a position as animal care attendant at the spcaLA in the P.D. Pitchford Companion Animal Village and Education Center, which had just opened. She advanced to the lead position and finally reclassified as foster coordinator.
“Julie’s quick wit and generous heart made her a friend to all who met her,” Carleton said. “During her years at spcaLA, she cared for seemingly millions of shelter animals – finding them new families and endlessly searching for rescue partners.”
Julie chauffeured adoptable animals to weekly City Council meetings, readied Chihuahuas for air transport to rescues in the middle of the night, volunteered at Kitty Hall and KLOS adoption events, counseled first-time foster parents, and pulled pets from Long Beach Animal Care Services, which shares the P.D. Pitchford venue, into empty kennels at spcaLA.
She earned service awards, notably a Commanding Officer’s Citation for helping convict a previously convicted animal felon who kept animals on his property despite his probation. Julie’s quick thinking and photography of evidence led to a conviction and jail time, spcaLA officials said.
When Julie was not at work, she enjoyed camping in Anza Borrgeo, Utah, Bishop, and Big Bear; visiting wineries and museums; music concerts; traveling; and just spending time with her family, both human and animal. She and Heidi had spent 10 years as a couple and had been married less than a year when she died.
“I always loved seeing them enjoying their lunch together under the umbrellas by the agility/training area,” volunteer Jeanne Perales said. “Julie was witty as hell, and I’ll cherish the good laughs we had together.”
Julie was only 49 years old when she passed, but she spent practically every minute of her own life making others’ lives better. Long Beach’s animals got her for 22 years.
Because of the overwhelming costs incurred by Julie’s medical bills and memorial, her family is asking people to consider a small donation through GoFundMe.
The Long Beach Post is hosting its first-ever silent auction — the only silent thing about the largest newsroom in the city! Bid on some neat prizes here, or donate to our nonprofit and help us make Long Beach better through informed news coverage.
Adopt or foster
Long Beach Animal Care Services is at capacity, and staff and volunteers work tirelessly to avoid the euthanasia of healthy pets. When Julie Prewitt first came to work at spcaLA, the shelter didn’t have a foster program. SpcaLA did, and Julie would ferry LBACS pets there to give them a chance at life.
The shelter has had a foster program for a couple of years and has recently hired a foster coordinator. All the pets you see here as well as on the shelter’s adoption page can be both fostered and adopted. To foster or adopt, contact the shelter at 562-570-7387 or [email protected]. Better yet, visit our shelter before you go anywhere else. It’s located at 7700 E. Spring St., near the entrance to El Dorado Park (no parking fee for shelter guests). Hours are Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Some of SpcaLA’s adoptables come from LBACS as well. They can be admired here.
Adora (ID#A702341) is well named because she’s both adorable and adored by the volunteers and staff! This lively 2-year-old has beautiful, deep-chocolate fur and weighs a compact 50 pounds. We’re not sure what ingredients are in this girl, although the most agreed-upon speculations are Lab, shepherd and bull terrier. Volunteer Susan classifies her as a Labrabullerd. It works! Adora came in as a stray last July, making her one of the shelter’s longest-staying pets. No one can believe she hasn’t been fostered or adopted yet. She’s a lover, a tail wagger, playful as anything and an aficionada of long walks.
Harley Davidson (ID#A709976) is a friendly 3-year-old German shepherd who loves getting out of his kennel and going on long walks. He loves to play fetch in the play yard and in the bone-shaped pool with his toys! He’s a big kid with lots of energy, and he needs to expend it in a loving foster or forever home. He’s beginning to show signs of kennel stress, and he needs to be in a secure place, away from the noise in the shelter.
Beautiful Java (ID#A692308) has the longest residency at our shelter of all the cats. This is not an achievement but a sad, sad situation. She’s beautiful, with her tuxedo coat, and her tongue blep is endearing. Java is considered a senior at 9 years old, and older cats get overlooked for the kittens. Kitten season is about to begin, and we’d love this big girl to have her own place to curl up in.
Tail-wagging and nose-booping events
March forth with the Bottle-Baby Brigade
Except that the event takes place on March 16. The Long Beach Bottle-Baby Brigade is a grant-funded collaboration between The Little Lion Foundation and Long Beach Animal Care Services to get ready for the kitten tsunami that comprises kitten season. That sounds adorable — and it is — but the cloud around that silver lining is the number of kittens that can’t be saved and whose births could have been prevented through TNR. Come to the meeting and see how it works and how you can be a part of it!
The Long Beach Bottle-Baby Brigade will take place Saturday, March 16, 1 p.m.–2 p.m. at Pet Food Express, 4220 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach.
11th annual CatPAWS Bowling Fundraiser
Show any cat anywhere that you’re just as good as rolling a ball around as they are. Fundraiser tickets include savory appetizers or a personal pizza, two hours of bowling, a soft drink, and bowling shoes. Prefer to lie around and watch, like a veritable cat? No worries! For just $20, you can be part of the fun by cheering on your team and friends and enjoying delicious food and a soft drink, which your ticket covers. Plus, every ticket comes with an entry into the opportunity drawing. Prizes await the highest and lowest scores for participants. All proceeds benefit the lucky rescue cats at Helen Sanders CatPAWS.
The CatPAWS bowling fundraiser takes place Saturday, March 23 from 2 to 5:30 p.m. at Westminster Lanes, 6471 Westminster Blvd., Westminster. Tickets are $45 for bowling and $20 for spectating; buy tickets here.
TNR Community Cat Action Group to hold second meeting
In January, TNR (trap/neuter-spay/return) cat trappers and supporters, representatives from Long Beach Animal Care Services, spay/neuter advocates and anyone interested in finding out how to help with TNR formed a coalition to do just that. Read about it here — it was a full house! If you have resources to share, if you can help trap or transport cats, if you want to actively support the effort to mitigate the number of kittens filling shelters and rescues and prevent euthanasia, sign up — here’s a video on how to trap, for starters.
The next meeting takes place Sunday, March 24 at 1 p.m. To sign up, email Kris Beardsley at [email protected]. Organizers will provide location to participants.
To see a list of local animal rescue groups, click here.