Committe Members Visit Pitchford Village

On Saturday, committee members visited the animals at Pitchford Village. Only 4 NA animals are on the SPCA side for adoption. The visit caused quite a stir among the LBAC staff and the group was monitored very closely.

The visit brought up several pressing concerns: there are not enough pets at Pitchford to account for all the animals seized. Lt. Elliott could not disclose if there was an off site facility, but simply said all the animals at Pitchford were available for adoption. One relief is that Rocky was moved in with the stray cats out of the cold. He continues to have severe diarhea and is covered in poop. His indoor pen is quite small, but at least it is a little warmer. Anyone who can visit Rocky daily is encouraged to do so. You can see by the photos here and we can affirm for you, his health is declining rapidly. He needs to get out!!

Old Man is of great concern, he is said to be at Los Alamitos VCA for prostate problems. Old Man is a large hound whom we have not seen since August 23rd. There is a home waiting for him on a huge ranch. If you have time to call Los Alamitos VCA and ask about his condition, feel free to do so. We are nervous that this will be used as an excuse to kill him.

Our biggest concern was all the pets we did not see. All of the cats we didn't see. There are other animals being housed in the same "stray dogs" section with NA animals -- please don't be fooled into thinking that there are more animals there than are truly ours. Our dogs are in the 500 and 700 building. You have to really walk around to get to those housed in the far back. Others are in two sections that are chained off. We were reprimanded for going too close to the chain.

During the initial seizure, only 2 animals were reported to have been euthanized. Mr. Moore recently said that another 5 had died on their own. If these animals were in such poor condition, why are they just now being taken to the animal hospitals in the area to be given care. LBAC has had these animals in their care since August 23.

We are also concerned about the state of these animals care. There is poop and pee everywhere -- yes, it really does take a lot of work to take care of all those pets -- Noah's Ark volunteers did it EVERY day! This was during open business hours....imagine what the facility must look like when people arrive in the morning...about like Noah's Ark during the raid, maybe? Many of the animals are in total fear but gladly came to see us when they realized who was there to visit. We saw paws with extraordinarily long nails, we saw matts, we saw older animals who were cold since they live on cement flooring and stainless steel platforms. These are all conditions LBAC used to seized these animals. After so long with LBAC you would think they would be in better shape if the situation was really as LBAC said it was.

Please find the time to visit these animals, they need to know that they are important and loved...that they are not abandoned. Please encourage Wesley Moore to accept help from rescues and others who live out of state and want to adopt these animals. At the very least, the animals photos should be up online so that people can see them. Can we not work with other agencies to ensure that these pets can have homes that want them...even if they don't live in a 20 mile radius of Long Beach?! From a conversation with Lt. Elliott, it appears that Madeline Bernstein, President of the SPCALA is in charge of all the animals who will get out. Please contact Madeline at the SPCA (as we will be doing) to encourage her to let rescues come in NOW for the animals. Ask her to let out of state adopters have some leeway so that these animals can get out and on their way to homes. Of note -- we find it odd that Mr. Moore is being told what to do by Ms. Bernstein if the situation is really as Lt. Elliott has reported it to be.

We will post a list of the animals we have not seen shortly. You can join us in finding out, "WHERE are our pets?!"