Animal Advocates Protest at Mayor's State of the City

Dedicated animal advocates in support of No Kill braved the rain here in Long Beach yesterday to be a voice for shelter animals at Mayor Garcia's annual State of the City address.

Carrying umbrellas and decked out in rain gear, they came prepared to speak the truth about what's happening at the Long Beach shelter, even as Mayor Garcia was inside, busily spinning the truth for political gain and providing "alternative facts" to save face after nearly five years of utterly failing Long Beach's shelter animals and the compassionate public.

Determined not to allow Mayor Garcia to hide the truth about Long Beach's shelter animals at the high-profile event, animal advocates carried signs and educated the public about the plight of animals in our shelter -- a heartwrenching truth that Mayor Garcia has denied over the past 5 years as Mayor, in spite of the fact that two separate audits (here and here) have revealed 186 deficits at the shelter ranging from a lack of proper care for animals to inadequate cleaning practices and veterinary care.

Advocates carried signs saying "Long Beach Wants No Kill," at times broke into chants, and showed photos of animals Long Beach Animal Care Services [LBACS] planned to kill for behavioral problems now settled in, happy, healthy and well-adjusted in their new homes. One dedicated advocate came dressed as a cat to draw attention to the high kill rate of cats in the City's shelter.
Another sign reported the number of kittens -- 488 -- killed at Long Beach Animal Care Services in 2018. That's more than two kittens killed every day that the shelter was open in 2018. Yet another pointed out the distressing fact that during City Manager Pat West's tenure, more than 47,000 animals have been killed at the Long Beach animal shelter. Video of the protest can be found here.

Photo: Markelle Cooper Pineda

"Madeline Bernstein's SpcaLA has a big part to do with why so many animals are killed at Long Beach Animal Control Services. She is controlling our Mayor, and she's controlling our City Manager, Patrick West," said Alex Armstrong, who networks and rescues shelter animals and has advocated tirelessly for shelter animals at meeting after meeting of the Long Beach City Council. "Until she is out of the picture, or at least we are able to run our own facility, where adoptions are being done at Long Beach Animal Control on their own without her guidance, [LBACS] will never be able to stop killing animals."

In addition to talking about the problems, advocates also offered solutions, speaking about the need for comprehensive lifesaving programs at the Long Beach shelter.

"We need volunteers to help, we need foster care, families, we need adoption. Adoption is huge - our adoption numbers are so low, and we could be just as proactive as other cities that have taken the stance of the No Kill Equation," said Jacqueline Case, who has been a vocal and compassionate advocate for No Kill policies at the Long Beach shelter and is the only advocate for No Kill on the Mayor's Task Force on LBACS.

Lifesaving programs, such as a full adoption and foster program, are completely doable in Long Beach, which has a large animal-loving public to support them; however, the City government has fought implementing a comprehensive adoption and foster program since the need for these programs were brought to light by a coalition of animal advocates back in 2006 and then again by No Kill Long Beach back in 2013.

"I've been trying to get the shelter to No Kill for eleven years," said Joanne Kwast, from Long Beach Spay & Neuter. "My little girl was six months when I started this. She's now eleven."
"We ask that everybody who cares about animals in our city reach out to their council member, reach out to the Mayor and request that the City has a No Kill shelter," said Kwast.

Exercising the right to free speech is an effective way to advocate for social change. Protests have been instrumental in securing civil rights, the women's right to vote, the right to gay marriage, the right not to live in fear of sexual harassment and assault (as we've seen in the #metoo movement) and other key movements in our nation's history. We have no doubt that exercising our democratic rights will work for No Kill, as well.

The protest was organized by independent animal advocates Beverly Leifer and Candace Lawrence and brought together several rescue and advocacy groups, as well as concerned independent rescuers and residents.

Visit No Kill Long Beach and learn about how to make Long Beach a No Kill city at www.facebook.com/NoKillLB or on our website at www.NoKillLongBeach.org.

Video Credit: Jacqueline Case