7 More Adoptions A Day is All We Need

Someone made a misleading statement on our Facebook page the other day, and I'd like to set the record straight. This page has been known to say that Long Beach could be No Kill in 3 months if the right programs were in place. Don't get us wrong - we don't mean half-heartedly put in place, done in half-measures or done only here and there. (That's the current practice). We mean FULLY put in place, vigorously pursued with a STRONG and KNOWLEDGEABLE leader, using data that is readily available or gatherable to inform staff practices.

We stand by that claim. Here's why:

LBACS killed 1662 animals last year. That means that in order to save all of those animals, LBACS would need to do approximately 7 more adoptions per day each day that the shelter is open than they currently do.

SEVEN.

That number may even be slightly lower since some small percentage of the animals at LBACS are truly incurable or unable to be helped medically.

Now - let's look at the population of Long Beach. Approximately 500,000 people live in Long Beach.

In a city the size of Long Beach, it is absolutely, beyond the shadow of a doubt, completely feasible for a City agency with more than $4 million budget at its disposal to do 7 more adoptions per day than they are currently doing.

LBACS doesn't have an animal INTAKE problem; it has an animal ADOPTION problem. LBACS simply does not maximize its ability to do adoptions. It doesn't have a lifesaving culture at the higher levels of management, and the lower levels of staff and volunteers are left scrambling.

Sacramento has a lifesaving culture with a knowledgeable leader who makes lifesaving a priority and pushes hard for it each and every day she wakes up and goes to work.

Austin has a lifesaving culture - same situation as Sacramento, but their lifesaving plan is codified by a city ordinance (Bravo, Austin - that will save animals' lives for decades to come).

Washoe County, NV has a lifesaving culture -

Petaluma, CA has a lifesaving culture -

Pike County, KY has a lifesaving culture -

Jefferson County, OH has a lifesaving culture -

The list goes on and on.

So - don't let it be said that we can't go No Kill in LB and do so immediately.

We can.

But we don't. And Ted Stevens has set as his goal for the coming year to "shoot for under a thousand" euthanasias. That is NOT the mindset we need in our city shelter. Life-affirming is what we need. We need to shoot for 1662 lives SAVED, not lives killed.

That's why people need to raise awareness of what's going on at the Long Beach shelter. Even as we wait for the Audit to happen, there is no guarantee that it will result in change (more on this in a later post).

Please write to your city council member and tell them you want a STRONG adoption program that is separate from SpcaLA at the Long Beach shelter.

Contact info for LB City Council is here: https://goo.gl/y7QqpF

They NEED our help.


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