City of Long Beach puts money ahead of animals...again.

The next Task Force meeting about Long Beach Animal Care Services' future is scheduled for November 13 at 11 am. Let's be clear: We're not talking just about the future of a city agency. We're talking about the future of our city's shelter animals.

In the month since the last meeting, we've learned a few things.

We've learned that LBACS is now offering an "amnesty" for people who have not been licensing their pets. The goal, according to the City, is to get more people to license their pets so that there is "ongoing revenue...in the current and future years."

No Kill Long Beach has had extensive e-mails with the Auditor's office asking about where people's money goes when they license their animals. And here's the deal:

Licensing funds go to the City's General Fund. They don't go to a special account designated for the shelter or for shelter animals.

Licensing funds are not earmarked for the shelter, and if licensing revenue increases, that does not mean that LBACS' budget increases. There is virtually no connection between the fees LBACS brings in and the LBACS budget. That money goes into the General Fund and gets doled out with all of the rest of the GF money to the City's various programs and units.

What this means is that in the time since audits were published, the City has chosen to make one of the highest priority action items the procurement of MORE money from the people of Long Beach with no guarantee, as far as we know, that this money will go back to the shelter.

We would be okay with this if more licensing meant more lost animals going home to their owners.

But that's not the case: According to City records, in 2017 only one animals -- one dog -- was returned to his/her owner because of an animal license tag. ONE.

Microchips were much more effective (106 animals) and the number one way people got their pets back was that they walked into the shelter.

A licensing "amnesty" is not what Long Beach needs.

What we need are a creative, knowledgeable, public-friendly director who knows about 21st century sheltering methods.

What we need is a shelter that gets its money through grants and donations, not through the punitive use of licenses to increase revenue.

What we need is a shelter that knows that the way to get more animals home is not to punish people for losing their pets with high redemption fees (of which licensing fees and late fees are a part), but instead is to make the shelter a welcoming, positive place that people want to go to and want to support.

We encourage people to go to the Task Force meeting on November 13 (details below).

It's time to speak up for No Kill -- REAL No Kill. The saving all healthy and TREATABLE animals in our shelter.

The animals need YOU to be their voice. Support No Kill in Long Beach.