People often mistakenly believe that declawing their cats is a harmless "quick fix" for unwanted scratching. They don't realize that declawing can make a cat less likely to use the litter box or more likely to bite. Declawing can also cause lasting physical problems and lead to the cat being surrendered to a shelter due to behavioral or health issues. Too often, people think that declawing is a simple surgery that removes a cat's nails—the equivalent of having your fingernails trimmed. Sadly, this is far from the truth. Declawing traditionally involves the amputation of the last bone of each toe. If performed on a human being, it would be like cutting off each finger at the last knuckle. The American Veterinary Medicine Association discourages declawing as an elective procedure and supports non-surgical alternatives. It is an unnecessary surgery that provides no medical benefit to the cat. Educated pet parents can easily train their cats to use their claws in a manner that allows everyone in the household to live together happily. In 2003, West Hollywood became the first city in the country to ban declawing. Since then, cities such as Berkeley, Beverly Hills, Burbank, Culver City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Santa Monica have joined them. New York has a statewide ban. Isn't it time for Long Beach to do the right thing for cats and ban declawing?

Because it saves dogs lives and encourages responsibility!! Numerous times I have seen dogs "hanging" over the sides of pickup beds, dangerously close to falling out. My sister told me that once she had actually seen a tethered dog fall out and get hung. I have seen numerous dead dogs on the sides of freeways and the only way this could happen is if they had fallen out of a pickup truck bed. That many loose dogs would not wander onto a freeway. People need to be less cavalier and more careful with their supposed treasured pets.

El programa de vales proporciona a los miembros de la comunidad local y las mascotas los recursos que tanto necesitan. También reduce la cantidad de animales que ingresan al refugio y también disminuye la cantidad de mascotas que matan por esa razón. A través de este programa, los miembros de la comunidad de Midland tienen acceso a esterilización / castración asequible para sus perros y gatos. Esto les permite conservar la propiedad de sus mascotas mientras brindan atención médica y, en última instancia, mantienen baja la población animal callejera. Cortar estos fondos limita drásticamente las opciones para manejar poblaciones de animales callejeros en Midland, TX. Esto podría llevar a un aumento en la ingesta de refugios creando condiciones de hacinamiento y mayores tasas de eutanasia. Esto afectaría al personal del refugio y a los residentes locales que ya no tendrían acceso a los recursos para ayudar a crear soluciones a nivel comunitario.

A veces, cuando desea generar un cambio en su comunidad, es difícil saber por dónde empezar. Trabajamos con defensores locales como usted para realizar cambios sostenibles que salven vidas mientras creamos un marco de apoyo para las mascotas de Odessa y las personas que se preocupan por ellas. Al unirse, se convierte en parte de un grupo motivado de personas que creen que todas las mascotas y las personas merecen compasión y que, cuando trabajamos juntos, podemos crear un cambio real para los perros y gatos necesitados.

¿Porque esto es importante? Fresno es una comunidad donde vecinos se cuidan entre todos. Las mascotas juegan un rol importante y juntos trabajaremos para mantenerlos seguros. Las personas y las mascotas de la ciudad de Fresno merecen programas que se concentren en proporcionar salidas seguras y positivas para los perros y gatos que ingresan a los refugios. Usted es una parte fundamental para garantizar que las mascotas y las personas tengan acceso a programas y recursos positivos. Es importante que sus representantes sepan que salvar gatos y perros es importante para la gente de Fresno. La buena noticia es que puede ser parte del apoyo a programas positivos que funcionan alrededor de California y en partes del condado de Fresno. Algunos ejemplos incluyen la programación comunitaria para gatos (para garantizar que los gatos estén esterilizados / castrados, vacunados y devueltos a sus hogares), programas de crianza (para proporcionar alojamiento temporal a las mascotas antes de encontrar sus hogares permanentes) y servicios y recursos progresivos para garantizar que las personas tengan lo que necesitan para mantener a sus mascotas. Al abogar por estos programas y la continuada colaboración con otras organizaciones comunitarias, puede ser parte de la creación de una comunidad más saludable para las mascotas y las personas. ¡Muestre su apoyo firmando y compartiendo hoy! ¡Gracias por su apoyo y todo lo que hacen por las mascotas y la gente de Fresno!

It is time for change at our Collinsville animal shelter. A great first step would be the utilization of volunteers at that location. Signing this petition would hopefully open the door to a more transparent experience at the shelter. As it stands, potential adopters can only view an animal by appointment. Utilizing volunteers would allow for people to come in and view animals at any time the shelter was open. The system is so broken and outdated that very few people will run the gauntlet of rules that currently exist, to view and adopt a pet. As a direct result of this, very few animals are adopted out in a calendar year and most spend much more time waiting for a family than is necessary.  A recent story is that a older cat was found wandering with a collar and leash attached. A concerned citizen dropped him off at the shelter. After 5 days I called to try and adopt him. I was met with nothing but resistance and was told that he (the person who answered my call) wasn't in charge of that area. To put this in perspective the shelter is very small and there are only 2 employees. They rarely have more than 10 cats and this cat was brand new to them. The call ended with him telling me that the only way I could find out if they still had this kitty was to wait and hope they put him on their Facebook page the following week. Volunteers are needed at this location not only to create a welcoming experience but to be able to actually work to get an animal adopted.