Scratch This: Who’s on the good list?
Curl up with a Christmas catalog for critters and the Long Beach people who love them.
So, how was Thanksgiving? Ready to jingle down the lane for the rest of the holiday events? Today, the entire Scratching Post column dedicates itself to the furry, feathery and scaly aspects of the season, beginning with Operation Santa Paws, which has been making shelter pets happy for nearly 25 years.
And before Thanksgiving, volunteers at Long Beach Animal Care Services combined elf and chef to provide a holiday dinner for the pooches in the kennels. Whether they knew it was Thanksgiving is moot because they enjoyed the heck out of a home-cooked meal, and the volunteers loved making it.
Dogs from Sparky and the Gang animal rescue take the spotlight in the Yours drooly adoption section — several of them will walk with loving humans alongside an unseasonably pink float in Saturday’s Belmont Shore Christmas Parade. Finally, a bunch of paw-size stocking stuffers round off the column in Tail-waggin’ and nose-boopin’ events.
No lumps of coal here
In 2001, community organizer and all around generous guy Justin Rudd came up with another of his terrific ideas: combine an effort of giving gifts and supplies to shelter pets with spotlighting animal shelters and their hardworking staff and volunteers. Operation Santa Paws, hosted by Rudd’s nonprofits Community Action Team and Haute Dogs, collected pet toys, leashes, litter, food, cleaning supplies and other items that shelter pets and staff always need.
“It was fun!” Rudd said. “Just introducing a lot of people to shelters gave us the best memories. We’d meet at the shelters — some people hadn’t even been to a shelter, and the idea can be scary. But we were able to introduce them to places that were helpful to animals as much as they can be.”
Former LBACS manager Ted Stevens greets well-wishers during one of the first Operation Santa Paws. Video courtesy of Justin Rudd.
During the initial years, people assembled boxes and covered them with the Operation Santa Paws logo and suggested donations for the shelters. The boxes were then placed at private residences and businesses such as coffee houses and pet-supply stores. The locations of the boxes were logged for the public on the event’s website. Then, on a Saturday before the Christmas holiday, community members and volunteers from Rudd’s organizations collected the boxes and met in the parking lots of local animal shelters, where they fed treats to appreciative dogs, cats and rabbits and gave supplies and accessories to shelter staff.
During the inaugural Operation Santa Paws, the volunteers visited animals at LBACS, spcaLA and Seal Beach Animal Care Center. A couple of years later, they added Orange County Animal Care and a few others. The operation ultimately gained national recognition and was listed as an entire month in the National Day Calendar, with credit given to Rudd and his nonprofits. Any organization has permission to use the Operation Santa Paws logo and create an event of their own.
The structure of Operation Santa Paws has changed in the past few years. Rudd said that it’s been a lot of work, and hopefully other groups and individuals will take the reins, or the leash and harness, anyway.
“When we started, we were enabling the businesses to collect, and we’d do all the work,” Rudd said. “It was a lot. Now, we want to focus the effort on promoting the event and encouraging people to start their own collections. Anyone can do this — a school group, a scout troop, or you and your neighbors, friends and family. It doesn’t matter if they collect only 10 items — the shelter is going to appreciate it.”
While everyone’s in the giving mood, it’s a good time to collect for the pets as well as the people in need. Visit this link to download signs and wish lists for your collection box, and visit your local shelter or rescue in person to deliver the goodies. If time’s an issue, take advantage of the internet and check out a shelter or a rescue’s wish list, or just donate money, which they can always use. A list of local shelters and rescues can be found on this link.
“The idea here is that we can bring some joy to animals until they find their forever home,” Rudd said. “It’s also a good way for the shelter and rescue staff and volunteers to know that someone cares.”
Done up like the dog’s dinner — Happy Thanksgiving!
There’s no transition to the rest of the winter holidays without a wave to Thanksgiving. A few days before the family holiday, several Long Beach Animal Care Services volunteers hosted the second annual Best Friendsgiving for the shelter dogs. No canned turkey-flavored dog food or packeted treats, mind you — the volunteers cooked fresh vegetables, peeled fruit, chopped up meaty chunks — the whole dog’s dinner, and the diners chowed down with gusto!
“The dogs went crazy for the meals — the noise level in Cottage 6 went from 10 to zero after the meals were passed out!” volunteer Deborah said. “This is just a little something we can do to give our dogs a nice Thanksgiving meal, some enjoyment and a break from the normal meals they are given.”
Thought you’d like to see a few photos, all courtesy of volunteer Deborah.
… and finally, fill up happy tummies! Video by volunteers Brenda and Norm.
To join this amazing crew of people, fill out a volunteer application here.
YOURS DROOLY
Sparky and the Gang animal rescue along with Fix Long Beach will make another holiday event warm and furry. They’ll be a presence in the annual Belmont Shore Christmas Parade that takes place Saturday, Dec. 7, at 6 p.m., maneuvering a seriously pink dog float down Second Street, festooned with barking doggies and accentuated with continuous rock music from Long Beach icon Corday. Sparky founder Sherri Stankewitz never does anything by halves.
Wanna walk with the doggies in the parade? You can still contact Sparky and the Gang — instructions are on the above graphic, which you can’t miss. Wanna adopt one of the doggies featured in Yours drooly or on Sparky’s website? Access this link for information!
Rosie is an English bulldog, with maybe a splash of Frenchie. She has longer legs than bulldogs; a cute, lean figure; and a sweet personality. She didn’t always look this good — she was left at the shelter missing most of her fur and was skinny in an unhealthy way. Thanks to the Sparky gang, she looks great now. She does well with other dogs and loves to play. She also love to chase lawn-sprinkler water! She’s about 2 years old and would love a forever home.
Meet Mr. Chunk, an 8-month-old husky/German shepherd mix. Mr. Chunk wasn’t always chunky — he was found skinny and missing fur, and he went into to quarantine for weeks at the shelter. No one could see him to adopt him. Sparky and the Gang pulled him and brought him into their pack. He’ll be a big, friendly boy!
Boston, a young pointer/Dalmatian mix — a mutt mutt, as Stankewitz calls him — was left at the shelter as a young puppy. He contracted parvo and was on the euthanasia list. A shelter staff member contacted the Fix Parvo ICU to save his life. The clinic welcomed Boston, and he made a speedy recovery. The kennel attendants and volunteers love him and give him lots of playtime. Boston dreams of a forever backyard, human children, toys, Netflix — all the things every puppy deserves. He is very active and is great with other dogs and people.
“This is a sad but serious problem with our society,” Stankewitz said of the contagion of parvo. “[But Boston] is parvo free and will live a long and happy life.”
TAIL-WAGGIN' AND NOSE-BOOPIN' EVENTS
December Ugly Sweater Days at Feline Good Social Club
Wear your ugliest Christmas sweater to Feline Good Social Club’s Christmas Party and enjoy the little hosts, in their own sweaters, decorate it with the ultimate in accessories — cat fur. Ugly Sweater Days will be the absolute cat’s pajamas, so reserve your tickets on the link below!
December Ugly Sweater Days takes place Friday–Sunday, Dec. 13–15 at Feline Good Social Club, 301 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach, tickets $19.99, purrrrrchase here.
Locals-Only Art Show at Cool Cat Collective
The Cool Cat Collective is part shop, part gallery and all-cat dedicated, including to the adoptable cats in their little play area. Cool Cat is using art to help local cats find homes for the holidays with its first open-submissions, all-ages art show that features artwork from a wide range of artists depicting adoptable cats from non-profit 501(c)3 animal rescues located in Los Angeles County or Orange County. All proceeds from sales will be donated to the rescue organizations where the featured cats are located.
CAMP low-cost mobile vaccine clinic at Zoom Room
Long Beach’s favorite playground and learning center for dogs welcomes the Community Animal Medicine Project (CAMP) to its parking lot so that your pets can get their vaccines and stay healthy. After, you and the dogs might want to check out the Zoom Room for its great services! The cats will more than likely want to get the heck home. No appointments — just show up. Details about the types of vaccines, cost and clinic schedule for other parts of the city are available here.
The CAMP mobile clinic will be at the Zoom Room Dec. 20, 10 a.m.–1 p.m. The Zoom Room is located at 100 E. Willow St., Long Beach.
Need a low-cost veterinarian, information about trapping community cats, places to volunteer, rescues and shelters to adopt from — anything pet related? Follow this link for resources. Please add your own ideas in the Comments section.
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