Giving them Paws
No Kill Long Beach (formerly Stayin’ Alive Long Beach) has published our 2018 Animal Welfare Voter Information Guide to help Long Beach voters choose animal-friendly candidates in the April 10 election. Candidates can receive up to four Paws for their views on bringing much needed changes to the Long Beach Animal Care Services (LBACS) animal shelter, which was reviewed by the city auditor last December and found to have significant operational and management deficits that have affected LBACS’s ability to provide humane care to animals.
No Kill Long Beach (NKLB) has interviewed candidates, reviewed candidates’ surveys and examined current officeholders’ actions on shelter animal issues over the past four years to come up with our top picks for animal-friendly candidates. This is the third election in a row that we’ve published a voter guide as a service to the people of Long Beach.
NKLB’s goal is the saving of every healthy and treatable animal at the Long Beach shelter. Other cities— such as Austin, Texas; St. George, Utah; Kansas City, Mo.; and Washoe County, Nev.— are saving all of their healthy and treatable animals, and their cities are benefiting. A recent study found that Austin has accrued $157 million in benefits from increased business, tourism and brand equity as a result of going no-kill. With the recent audit, however, we have learned that many basic operations and programs in animal sheltering are not adequately managed at LBACS, in spite of the fact that Long Beach spends more per animal than Los Angeles, Sacramento and even Austin, the nation’s leader in animal sheltering with a 98-percent save rate for shelter animals.
We need strong leadership on city council to remedy these problems and make Long Beach a leader in animal sheltering. Our top candidate picks for the 2018 election:
• Jared Milrad (District 7) received our highest, “4 Paws” rating. Milrad has an impressive personal and professional background in animal advocacy. A public-interest lawyer, he works for an animal-advocacy organization and has worked extensively to advocate for animals in numerous settings. He would be a strong no-kill advocate for animals on city council.
• Gordana Kajer (District 3) received our very high “3 Paws” rating. Recently returned from a trip to Cuba volunteering with an animal-welfare agency, Kajer has a strong interest in animal welfare and would be a strong voice in obtaining no-kill status for our shelter and a positive future for our city’s shelter animals.
• Rich Dines (District 5) received “2.5 Paws.” His views on performance goals and accountability are well suited to addressing the many management problems the audit brought to light at LBACS. We believe he would be an advocate for our shelter animals.
We encourage voters to consider the welfare of shelter animals when voting this election. Can Long Beach be a no-kill city? With strong leadership on city council, you bet we can.
No Kill Long Beach’s full voter information guide can be found here: goo.gl/BaMsnw.
Patricia Turner
Director
No Kill Long Beach
