spcaLA and the Long Beach State of the City -2020

Mayor Beverly O'Neill opening day 2001

spcaLA served the residents and animals of City of Long Beach since the forties! We operated Long Beach Animal Care & Control from  1940-1960 under the name Southern California Humane Society. At the time, the Long Beach shelter was located at 2150 W Cowles St. Today it’s a used truck sales company.

In the late 1990's, the city of Long Beach again asked spcaLA for help. In a dark overcrowded shelter on Willow street, Long Beach Animal Control was taking in approximately 14,000 animals a year, with a very low live release rate. Under a very forward thinking Mayor, Beverly O'Neill, and a like-minded council the idea of a public private partnership was born. spcaLA began a capital campaign, built and opened the spcaLA P.D. Pitchford Companion Animal Village in 2001. 

Finding homes for over 40,000 Long Beach animals is one of our biggest sources of pride. Our aggressive adoption programs, combined with the fact that our adoptions procedures are trusted throughout the country (as evidenced by our Air Chihuahua program, active since 2009, and other transport activity) has resulted in this fabulous number.

 In addition to our adoption strategies, spcaLA's  robust educational initiatives, affordable vaccine and sterilization programs, creating a beautiful village where people come from around the world, and working with at risk community survivors, have, after 2 decades created at least 2 generations of compassionate and responsible adults. “Compassion saves” is not just adoptions. It is mindful decision making, forward thinking policies, respect for our work, collaborating with other cities, and a moral and ethical approach to ensuring the best quality of life for all our animals. The impound rate plummeted to a remarkable 5195 in 2019. 

On this, the Long Beach State of the City celebration, and the beginning of a new decade. spcaLA congratulates the city of Long Beach, our hundreds of thousands supporters in Long Beach, including our Long Beach staff and volunteers, as well as our millions of supporters throughout the state and other countries who join in this success. Annual visitors since 2001 from Japan, Australia, Dubai, the United Kingdom, have come to Long Beach to study our methods and our public private collaboration – the first of its kind in 2001 and still the best!

Congratulations Long Beach!