If you need to get your pet fixed and have trouble affording the payments that vets generally charge for the procedures, Fix Long Beach will help you with that. The next clinic will take place Oct. 12 at Somerset Park, and Council District 7 is generously sponsoring it (see Things to do, pets to support ). There may be a few spots left for male dogs. Even if you have an unaltered Dalmatian, which has its own spots, click here if you need a fix quick.

Other Fix services are available with no appointment needed—low-cost flea meds and dewormers, nail trimmiings, and free microchips. A determined cat or dog can hoodwink the most helicopterish pet parents, and chips are the best bet for a return of your hellcat or hound-ini.

Vaccinations, too, are available for $10 a shot. The recent feline distemper outbreak at the shelter, which is thankfully being controlled, and the latest discovery of a rabid bat in front of Kohl’s in Seal Beach shouldn’t be wake-up calls to keep your pets healthy and alive. Furfolk whose humans don’t have as much disposable income as they’d like but love their cats and dogs very much will have long, healthy lives.

Fix Long Beach also cares for pets—dogs, mostly—who for one reason or another weren’t lucky in the first act. Fix volunteers have always individually fostered pets, and awhile ago, the organization found itself officially involved in it. The dogs on this webpage are all in foster homes, thanks to Fix. Here are a few candidates available to adopt:

Adoption applications are available here.

If you want to help foster a pet for Fix, fill out the application here.

Oh—the disclaimer—I’ve volunteered for Fix Long Beach since the beginning, and proud of it.

Things to do, pets to support

Please send any Long Beach or Seal Beach pet-related events or projects to [email protected]. Posting subject to approval.

Calendars

Seal Beach Animal Care Center 2020 Calendar: through Oct. 20, $1 for each vote, $5 minimum

Has your dog been waiting for that walk down the runway? Has your cat been waiting to be discovered as the star they know they are? It is now their time to shine! The 13 cats and 13 dogs with the most votes will become a monthly model, with the top cat and top dog as cover pets. Whether you’re a winner or a beloved entrant, the pets at Seal Beach Animal Care Center will profit from your entry—all funds will go to their care. Details available here.

Events

Fix Long Beach Free Spay/Neuter Clinic, hosted by District 7 councilmember Roberto Uranga: Saturday, Oct. 12, 7:30 a.m.–3 p.m., 1500 E Carson St. # 1598, Long Beach, free spay/neuter appointments for qualifying people ; free microchips, shots, flea-med doses, dewormers and nail trimmings $10 each.

The best way to mitigate shelter euthanasia is to tamp the source, and that’s why we’re here. Our shelter and rescues are packed with cats and dogs, and everyone doing rescue is chasing their tail trying to get them all adopted. The best way for our community to help out is to turn off the taps at the other end so that more won’t be born. Remember: it’s the law to fix your pet in Long Beach, and Fix is here to help you do just that. Appointments are available for future clinics—make one at [email protected], or PM us on Facebook. More information is available here. We thank Councilmember Uranga and District 7 for seeing how important it is.

Bunny Bunch presents Bunny Expo: Sunday, Oct. 13, noon–5 p.m., 10534 Bechler River Ave., Fountain Valley, auction items vary.

Don’t worry about the vampire bunny in the photo—he prefers to drain vegetables, and not people, of their vital fluids. Otherwise, he’s quite cuddly. This promises to be one great time—if you have a bunny, exotic vets will be there to answer questions, and you can graze like any herbivore during the vegan lunch. Best of all, the rabbits who survived the arson alley fire in April—Braveheart, Amor and Kwan—are finally recovered and will make their public debut!

Boats n’ Barks Fundraiser Cocktail Pawty: Sunday, Oct. 13, 5–10 p.m., Boathouse on the Bay, 190 N. Marina Drive, Long Beach, menu and drink prices vary; auction prices vary

Join Live Love Animal Rescue and their sponsor, the Karen T. Hilburn Foundation, to help them float their boat and rescue as many pets as possible. Take a Duffy boat ride (all electric and won’t hurt the fishies), make a champagne toast, participate in a silent auction, and listen to heartwarming rescue stories!

Long Beach Imperial Court’s Villains for a Cause fundraiser: Saturday, Oct. 19, Hamburger Mary’s, 330 Pine Ave., Long Beach, $10 at door

You never know what those Imperial Court witches are going to pull off next! This time, it’s a costume party that will benefit Sparky and the Gang dog rescue and the Cat Cove—cats, of course. Get ready for an evening of games, raffles and drag shows. Hamburger Mary’s has a dog-friendly patio, so costume up your cutie and enter them in the Lola the Royal Saint’s first-ever doggie parade!

Lauren’s Fab 50th Fundraiser for FOLBA: Saturday, Oct. 26, 6:30–10:30 p.m., Expo Arts Center, 4321 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach, $20 minimum donation at the door, includes a beverage coupon

It’s gotten to the point at which you say, if you want to help a bunch of animals, call a drag queen and her friends. And boy, do they ever help! You know you’re in for a good time at this birthday party for the benefit of Friends of Long Beach Animals when you’ve got Jennifer Corday performing, Dani Carter MCing, drag queen Cassie Love sashaying, and Justin Rudd special-guesting. Wear your cocktail black-and-whites—it’s gonna be real fancy. All profits will go to Friends of Long Beach Animals to continue their spay/neuter and animal-welfare efforts.

Pit Bull Appreciation Day: Saturday, Oct. 26, 10 a.m.–3 p.m., Marine Stadium, 5255 Paoli Way, Long Beach, free

And it’s 2! $4! 6! 8! Who do we appreciate? Those silly, goofy, misunderstood-but-getting-better-by-the-moment pit bull dogs and mixes! Have fun rolling around with Rover on a yoga mat, trotting in a pack walk, learning about foster and pet care, purchasing raffle items and doggies to adopt. The event is brought to you by Blockhead Brigade, Live Love Animal Rescue and Lucky Dog Humane Education.

Haute Dog Howl’oween and Vendor Adoption Fair: Sunday, Oct. 27, 12:30 p.m., Marina Vista Park, 5355 E. Eliot St, Long Beach, $10 advance for each canine participant, $5 for a front-row chair, free to stand and spectate

OOOOOO! OWWWRRRROOO! Zombiedogs and pooch pirates and superhero mutts, all in the cutest costumes you’ll ever see! Justin Rudd and his Community Action Team (CAT) host what’s touted as the biggest Halloween pet event in the world! Shop for your best buddy at the vendors, or adopt one if you don’t have one or want a friend for your pal, and delight at a parade and judged contest featuring over 500 costumed dogs! The contest winner will get dog food for a year! Registration will open soon.

Mod Pizza Fundraiser for Fix Long Beach: Sunday, Oct. 27, 10:30 a.m.–10 p.m., Mod Pizza, 4230 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach, menu prices vary

Grab a slice, a whole pie, a salad or anything, and get everything on it! Fix Long Beach will get 20% of the tab to help spay and neuter our animals!

Sparky and the Gang’s Fourth Annual Black Dog Tan Chihuahua event: Saturday, Nov. 16, 4–10 p.m., Elinor, 250 N. Tribune Court, Long Beach, entrance TBA

Prohibition-themed event to raise funds for Sparky and the Gang dog rescue. Dress up in your dapper flappers. Can we say barkeasy? Al Ca-Bone, maybe? More information available here.

Shelter Shenanigans

Pick Your Price Adoption Promo at the shelter continues through Oct. 31, where you can bring home a new best buddy and cuddle during the cooling days of autumn. Cats, dogs, rabbits—and if your kid has been pestering you for a horse, don’t worry. We haven’t any.

Have an overnight with a kitty with Foster Fridays! The shelter has kittens coming out of the walls—literally. The shelter manager constantly has a few in her office! The shelter is at capacity, especially where cats are concerned, so fosters are sorely needed. Every Friday from 2-5 p.m., shelter staff is inviting residents who have the necessary accommodations—a safe space, time to feed them and play with them, and a propensity to say “Awwww!” every 15 minutes—to take a healthy, weaned kitten home for a while. Shelter will provide food, litter and a carrier and will cover any offsite medical. Time commitment is two weeks, with an option to adopt—of course! Foster fail! Have questions? Contact the shelter director at [email protected].

Other/ongoing

Strut Your Mutt takes place Oct. 26. Register now. See below for details.Feline Good Social Club: 301 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach, open daily 10 a.m.–7 p.m., $15 for an hour session, $8 for a “quickie” half-hour

Best Friends Animal Society is teaming up with our partner rescue groups, shelters and animal-welfare organizations to help save the lives of homeless cats and dogs at Strut Your Mutt. Local Long Beach groups such as The Little Lion Foundation are participating, and animal advocates and lovers will be coming from everywhere. Register for the Walk or donate if you have a pet who just won’t be walked—cats come to mind. All funds raised go directly to lifesaving programs such as spay/neuter, adoption, and a KITTEN NURSERY! This year’s event is on October 26, 2019 at Exposition Park in Los Angeles—all information is available here.

Instructional Pack Walk: First Saturday of the month, 10–11 a.m., Bixby Park, 130 Cherry Ave., Long Beach, free, donations accepted

The public is invited to take part in a walk sponsored by Trot’s Dog Walking and Training that will help you and your best buddy learn proper leash manners and focus on each other instead of the distractions of the “real world.” Trot’s experienced pack leaders are there to guide you through the process. Meet at the park at the corner of Ocean and Junipero at 10am.

Donations accepted for Pets of the Homeless

Pets of the Homeless’ home page gives a self-description as the only organization focusing only on providing food and care for pets belonging to homeless people. Businesses and other organizations across the country receive in-kind donations of food and other needs that the dogs and cats’ human families can pick up at outreach locations. The following Long Beach businesses will accept your donations:

Trendi Pawz, 255 Redondo Ave., Long Beach

Belmont Heights Animal Hospital, 255 Redondo Ave., Long Beach

Paw Shoppe Pet Center, Inc., 6416 E. Spring St., Long Beach

Food and supplies are available at Beacon for Him Ministries, 1535 Gundry Ave. Long Beach, Mondays from 9:00 a.m. to noon and Saturdays from noon to 3:00 p.m.; and at Christian Outreach in Action, 515 E. 3rd St., Long Beach, Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Donations will be gratefully accepted at these locations as well.

Adopt, adopt, adopt

The following pet-related businesses regularly feature cat, dog and rabbit adoptions. If you’re a Long Beach-area rescue and don’t see your adoption event listed here, please email [email protected]. Click on the links for each rescue in case of updates or changes.

Chase Bank, 5200 E. Second St., Long Beach

The Farmer’s Marketplace of Long Beach, 5000 E. Spring St. (Spring and Clark), Long Beach

Long Beach Animal Care Services along with other pet-rescue and pet-foster groups, fourth Sunday of each month, 9 a.m.–4 p.m.

Gelson’s Market, 6255 E. Second St.

Sparky and the Gang Animal Rescue, second Sunday of each month

Kahoots Pet Store, 18681 Main St. #102, Huntington Beach

Zoey’s Place Rescue, fourth Saturday of each month, noon–4 p.m.

Pet Food Express, 4220 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach:

PetSmart Cerritos, 12741 Towne Center Dr, Cerritos

The Little Lion Foundation, permanent adoption center, store hours

PetSmart Compton, 1775 South Alameda St., Compton

Zazzy Cats Kitty Rescue,permanent adoption center, store hours

Rabbit Rescue Inc., one adoptable rabbit daily, store hours

PetSmart Garden Grove, 9835 Chapman Ave., Garden Grove

The Little Lion Foundation, permanent adoption center, store hours

PetSmart, Long Beach Exchange, 3871 N. Lakewood Blvd., Long Beach

PetSmart Seal Beach, 12341 Seal Beach Blvd., Seal Beach.

PetSmart Signal Hill, 2550 Cherry Ave., Signal Hill

Kitty Katchers, Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m.–3:30 p.m.

Stray Cat Alliance, permanent adoption center, store hours

PetSmart Towne Center, 7631 Carson Blvd., Long Beach

Unleashed by Petco, 600 Redondo Ave.