Long Beach ends "inequitable" partnership with spcaLA, to expand animal living spaces
The city of Long Beach surprised spcaLA staff on Monday by ending its 26-year partnership with the organization in an effort to better care for its shelter animals.
Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said the termination of the agreement with spcaLA "comes from years of an inequitable partnership with the organization that has negatively affected the safety and well-being of animals that are under our care."
Targeted areas of concern included "several areas of non-compliance" with the pact and the city's limited access to the campus it shares with the organization, keeping the shelter at or over capacity, affecting the health and well-being of shelter animals, according to the city.
"While this contract termination may seem sudden, I want to be clear that we did not make this decision lightly," City Manager Tom Modica said.
The decision comes after extensive evaluation and years of trying to work with spcaLA to correct contract violations, he said.
In a statement, spcaLA's President Madeline Bernstein claimed the termination was in retaliation for her organization raising concerns about the city manager "regarding the care of animals at the facility that the City leases back from spcaLA in Long Beach.
"Today's surprise announcement seems to be a pre-calculated act - perhaps because the City was embarrassed by what was discovered," Bernstein said. "Citing petty and already-resolved issues, the City is now attempting to terminate an agreement set to expire in 2053. The City's actions are retaliatory, frivolous, and in the worst interest of the animals and people of our community."
Long Beach first entered a contract with spcaLA in October 1998 to address the overwhelming euthanasia rates that Long Beach, among other municipal shelters, was experiencing at the time and to help find more positive outcomes for animals entering the facility, city officials said.
"We were trying to implement higher quality care for our animals and we wanted to move forward with a positive partnership for the sake of the animals and communities we serve," Modica said. Long Beach Animal Care Services also provides animal care to the communities of Los Alamitos, Cerritos and Signal Hill.
While spcaLA has greater access to the shared campus, the city reported drastically reducing its intake of the shelter's adoptable animals, which Modica said is its primary responsibility under the contract agreement.
