The agendizing memo by LB Parks/Rec director Gerardo Mouet [who has announced his impending retirement] attaches a November 15, 2019 memo by Mr. Mouet to the Mayor/Council that recommended entering into a Memorandum of Understanding with SPCA-LA, whose facility immediately adjacent to the LB Animal Shelter operates under a long-term lease with the city. SPCA-:LA offers animals for adoption (some obtained from neighboring LBACS) for adoption on SPCA-LA's terms. Mr. Mouet's November memo said an MOU with SPCA-LA would "ensure operational functionality is increased with the aim to maximize the effectiveness of the Compassion Saves approach" and "address best practices for maintaining facilities and financial conditions which are most conducive to promoting increased adoptions at the LBACS facility."

Both aspects of city management's agenda item collide with positions urged by a number of LB animal advocates, including No Kill Long Beach. On social networks, several LB animal advocates have signaled that they plan to voice their displeasure with the status quo on the agenda item and have urged supporters to attend the Council meeting and "provide a voice for the animals."

The Council's April 2019 approval of the less-than-no-kill "Compassion Saves" approach effectively spurned calls (over a period of years) by No Kill LB's to implement no-kill shelter practices. (LBREPORT.com coverage here.) LB Mayor Garcia and LB Council incumbents have to date declined to agendize "no kill" policies for discussion.

No Kill Long Beach and a number of independent animal advocates have also urged the City to create and operate a robust City-run animal adoption program independent of SPCA-LA; LB's Mayor/Council have likewise declined to do so

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On No Kill Long Beach's Facebook page, the group's founder Dr. Patricia Turner PhD has written in part:

...Any MOU between SpcaLA and LBACS needs to make just TWO points. Those points are:

1) that LBACS will be entirely independent of SpcaLA and

2) that SpcaLA,transparency with the City, notably by reporting its outcomes but also by opening their doors and records to Long Beach Animal Care Services administrators.

Anything beyond that, any MOU that tries to divide up responsibilities or perpetuate a partnership, or further involve LBACS with SpcaLA is unacceptable.

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A January 8, 2020 city management release stated that LB Animal Care Services' euthanasia and impounds continued a downward trend; less than a week later on Jan. 14, 2018, No Kill Long Beach issued a release questioning some of those figures (LBREPORT.com coverage here.) No Kill advocates say there's a lack of transparency in outcomes for animals that SPCA-LA receives from LBACS for adoption. (To date, Mayor Garcia and LB Council incumbents haven't sought to make this information publicly available.)

No Kill LB also opposes a portion of the Jan. 21 agenda item that asks the City Attorney to draft an ordinance change (for a subsequent Council vote) that would increase the number of allowable animals per household and prevent bringing animals from outside LB into LB for adoption. "[W]e have NO IDEA what happens to the 1200 or so LBACS animals that go into SpcaLA every year," Dr. Turner has written.

During his January 14 "State of the City" message, LB Mayor Robert Garcia displayed Power Point slides citing management's figures while outside the Terrace Theater, LB animal advocates (for the second year in a row) held a demonstration critical of his record and urging changes in the status quo.

This year's demonstration received attention from 8th dist. City Council candidate Juan Ovalle, who spoke with demonstrators outside the Mayor's "State of the City" event about changes they'd like the City Council implement (photo below.)

Photo by Julie Mulholland

A number of LB animal advocates have faulted the Mayor/Council for failing to remedy chronic issues identified years ago by No Kill Long Beach and subsequently corroborated independently by a City Auditor's departmental performance audit. The advocates urge increased funding to correct Animal Care Services staffing shortages but the Mayor-recommended/Council approved FY20 budget stopped short of correcting the issue.

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While the Mayor/Council and management haven't implemented those measures, Mr. Mouet did hire a new shelter manager, Staycee Dains, who has received near universal plaudits for attempting to reduce animal killings despite the constraints of current Mayor/Council approved budgets and policies..

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On January 13, Governor Gavin Newsom's proposed FY21 budget asked the state legislature allocate $50 million to the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program to develop a grant program for animal shelters. "The program will include interactive group training for approximately 100 shelters, selected on a voluntary basis and prioritized by need," said the Governor's FY 21 budget narrative. "Over a five-year period, this program will expertise, support and local assistance to help local communities achieve the state's longstanding policy goal that no adoptable or treatable dog or cat is euthanized." The Mayor/Council haven't yet indicated if they want LB city management to apply for that grant funding.

Ms. Mulholland, a LB resident, has been a lifelong animal advocate. She attended the Jan. 14 demonstration and provided an account of the event and the overview above to LBREPORT.com.

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