The City of Long Beach announced Monday, Feb. 25, that the public is invited to a community workshop to begin the process of developing a strategic plan for Long Beach Animal Care Services (LBACS).
The workshop will be Sunday, March 3, from 1:30pm to 4pm at the El Dorado Park West Community Center, 2800 Studebaker Rd.
“A strategic plan for Long Beach Animal Care Services will be an important blueprint to continue our work of saving more animal lives and implementing important reforms,” said Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia. “Thanks to the work of rescue and animal-advocacy organizations and our volunteers and staff, we have seen outcomes improve for our shelter animals– and that needs to continue.”
The purpose of the workshop is to engage the Long Beach community in LBACS’s long-term vision and strategic direction, which will inform the strategic-planning process, city officials said.
Comments about issues facing cats, dogs and other animals, the mission of LBACS, LBACS’s impact in the community and planning for future LBACS operations and organization will be solicited.
The workshop agenda will include: an overview of the strategic planning process; an introduction of the mayor’s Animal Care Visioning Task Force that is providing input on ACS operations and goals; and an introduction of leading shelter consulting firm JVR Shelter Strategies, LLD, including Principal Consultant Dr. Jyothi V. Robertson, DVM, who will help guide the creation of the LBACS strategic plan.
For more information about the LBACS strategic-plan community workshop, call Staycee Dains, LBACS manager, at (562) 570-3051.
City officials shared the following statistics ahead of its meeting Sunday:
• From 2017 to 2018, ACS decreased the number of animal impounds by 13.2 percent
• Total euthanasia was reduced by 6.7 percent in 2018 from the year before
• In addition to the over 2,200 animals taken by the spcaLA and local rescue groups, an additional 686 were adopted directly from the ACS operated shelter
• Measure A funding of close to $450,000 into the ACS facility has provided new cottages for the cat population and will enable future investments into the facility
• The addition of a full-time veterinarian position has been approved to improve medical services for shelter animals
• Additionally, the inclusion of another full-time adoption/volunteer coordinator will help to increase the animal-adoption and volunteer programs
