Beardsley touched bases with trappers from the community and brought everyone together for a brainstorming session. Experienced trappers and community members who wanted to help asked and answered questions, shared experiences and resources, and watched a demonstration about how to set a trap. The Long Beach Community Cat Coalition, TNVR<\/a> came out of this grassroots event.<\/p>\n Shortly after, Long Beach Animal Care Services<\/a> (LBACS) installed Animal Control Officer Lindsie Merrick in the position of community cat coordinator. The connection with LBACS gave the new organization a place to meet and an invaluable link to the shelter. Now trappers could find out where the \u201chot spots\u201d in Long Beach that needed attention were and find out when their spay\/neuter vouchers would tumble down the pipeline.<\/p>\n Meetings were held quarterly, and resources and presentations helped the trappers. Kelly McHugh Lopes, who chairs most of the meetings, and digital designer Daria Wilczynska-Pham put together a website<\/a> for the coalition that offers advice on what to do if you find a cat, spay\/neuter and medical resources, traps and trapping, and why we\u2019re doing all this in the first place.<\/p>\n Shortly after the coalition formed, two well-known rescues, the Little Lion Foundation and Helen Sanders CatPAWS, got funding for clinics for community cat spay\/neuter procedures. The clinics initially used LBACS vouchers but now offer the procedures free to trapped cats. Trapping volunteers are thus relieved of the burden on their bank accounts and the scramble for scarce appointments with veterinarians who\u2019ll accept community cats, who often frightened and fractious and may urinate copiously.<\/p>\n This Saturday, June 13, from noon until 2 p.m., the Coalition will hold its first meeting since launching the new website<\/a>. It will take place in the LBACS Education Room as usual (See Tail-Waggin\u2019 and nose-boopin\u2019 events for de tails).<\/p>\n \u201cThis meeting is open to the public, and you don’t have to RSVP,\u201d McHugh Lopes said. \u201cYou can just show up if you are looking for information on how to help neighborhood cats or if you’ve found kittens or an injured cat \u2014 or dog. There are always lots of knowledgeable people there with valuable experience to meet and network with.\u201d<\/p>\n Officer Lindsie Merrick will talk about the current status of cats at the shelter, voucher processing and the types of community support that can be expected from LBACS. Representatives from Helen Sanders CatPAWS and The Little Lion Foundation will give updates about the resources they\u2019re providing for Long Beach and surrounding cities. For those who\u2019ve never set a trap before or need a refresher course, an up-close-and-personal demonstration will show attendees how to use regular and drop traps.<\/p>\n The community cat spay\/neuter clinics are probably the resources that the trappers need the most. Little Lion\u2019s community cat clinic takes in cats by appointment<\/a>, as does CatPAWS<\/a>. Shelter vouchers may be applied to owned cats, but procedures for trapped homeless cats are free. Cats receive vaccinations, ear tips for future identification as a fixed cat, and medical attention for simple procedures such as abscesses and fevers.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a cat overpopulation problem \u2014 too many cats on the street,\u201d TippedEars cofounder Renae Woith said. \u201cThey die on the street, they die in shelters. The only way to stop cats from dying unnecessarily is to spay\/neuter.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFixNation and CatPAWS joined forces to be sure that we can spay and neuter more Compton cats because appointments have become a little scarce, and so FixNation is subsidizing, CatPAWS is directing it, and we bring the cats!\u201d TippedEars cofounder Vita Mauro Pagano said. \u201cAnd so, we bring Compton into the equation. We\u2019re very grateful for this partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n Long Beach is lucky to have a vibrant trapping community, and that community is lucky to have the resources to make it happen. To be part of the effort to save lives and help prevent feline overpopulation, come to Saturday\u2019s meeting. Check out the organization\u2019s website<\/a> to see the details of the big picture.<\/p>\n \u201cAnybody can do it,\u201d Mauro Pagano said. \u201cIf more people would join the crowd and do it themselves, that would really help curb the overall issue.\u201d<\/p>\n YOURS DROOLY<\/p>\n Paws in the Sand<\/a> is another TNVR-based rescue, local to Long Beach. Janae Morgan, the rescue\u2019s founder, encourages and supports fellow attendees the Community Cat Coalition. Morgan is a self-starter \u2014 she founded Paws in the Sand about two years ago after deciding to personally pitch in to the rescue effort that she\u2019d supported with donations every year. Before the first year was up, she and a couple of fellow volunteers had TNVRd at least 200 cats and adopted out 250, most of them kittens. Read about Morgan and Paws in the Sand here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Small, new rescues usually don\u2019t have the visibility that larger, more established ones do, so this small journalism collective is giving this small rescue some eyeball. Here are three lucky fosters that Morgan will tell you about. Click here<\/a> to adopt a Paws in the Sand cat or to see all the kitties waiting to lay their paws on your heart and clean laundry.<\/p>\n Meet Ivy, a brave little survivor with a spirit that refuses to be dimmed. At just 1 year old, Ivy has already endured more than most cats do in a lifetime \u2014 she was rescued from a heartbreaking hoarding situation of over 85 animals. When Ivy first sought help, she was a skeletal four pounds and literally starving to death \u2014 yet, in a remarkable act of trust, she followed a kind neighbor home as if she knew it was her only chance at survival. Today, Ivy is a testament to resilience; despite her difficult start, she is an absolute purr machine who lives for affection. She is incredibly loving and cuddly, always looking for the nearest lap to curl up on and show her gratitude. Ivy has spent her life fighting for a tiny bit of space, so she is now ready to be the center of someone’s world, trading her hungry past for a lifetime of cozy naps and endless chin scratches.<\/p>\n Once reported as a stray caring for her newborn kittens, Mama Bonbon has proven to be an amazing mom and an even better companion. Here she is with one of her kittens, Marshy. Bonbon\u2019s sweet and affectionate, and she loves to cuddle. She enjoys dogs more than she does other adult cats, and this smart girl also knows exactly how a doorknob works! Bonbon\u2019s ready for a home of her own now that her kittens are growing up. Like many calicos, she has a little spice mixed in with her sweetness and can be a bit of a firecracker when it comes to things like brushing \u2014 but that\u2019s part of her charm!<\/p>\n And here\u2019s that Marshy! Marshy is 8 weeks old and a goofball. He\u2019s super-loving, loves to nap on his back, and even though he\u2019s still a mama\u2019s boy, he\u2019ll make the transition to a new home quite easily!<\/p>\n TAIL-WAGGIN’ AND NOSE-BOOPIN’ EVENTS<\/p>\n Long Beach TNVR Community Cat Coalition meeting<\/p>\n Learn the ABC\u2019s of TNVR from community volunteers who have dealt with every trapping issue from A to Z! Learn from veteran trappers what\u2019s involved in the practice and how to help, share resources if you\u2019re a trapper, and help newby trappers learn about planning, setting traps, spay\/neuter vouchers, releasing adult cats and what to do with kittens, and all things TNVR.<\/p>\n The Long Beach TNVR Community Cat Coalition meeting takes place Saturday, June 13, noon\u20132 p.m. at the Education Room at Long Beach Animal Care Center, 7700 E. Spring St., Long Beach, at the entrance to El Dorado Park. No parking fee for shelter visitors.<\/p>\n Foster the 4th Kickoff<\/p>\n It\u2019s that time again. Bangs, pops and booms have been going off everywhere, and it\u2019s not even the Fourth of July yet. When it is, it\u2019ll once again be the busiest time of the year for animal shelters everywhere. In preparation for the need for kennel space to hold the dogs who have fled in fear from fireworks, Long Beach Animal Care Services (LBACS) will hold their annual Foster the 4th event to get as many dogs as they can out of the kennels and into foster homes. <\/p>\n LBACS will extend their hours until 7 p.m. to welcome the public to meet the dogs that are available for foster care. That\u2019s a win for a lost dog and one for a shelter dog who\u2019ll get a well-deserved summer break! If that sounds like a celebration, scan the QR code on the graphic to fill out a foster application, and click this link<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n Foster the 4th Kickoff takes place Thursday, June 18, 10 a.m.\u20137 p.m. at Long Beach Animal Care Center, 7700 E. Spring St., Long Beach, at the entrance to El Dorado Park. No parking fee for shelter visitors.<\/p>\n Pet Loss and Illness Support Group<\/p>\n The worst day in the life you share with a pet is the day you have to say goodbye forever. Grief is personal on the one hand, and on the other hand, you have a lot of company who get what you\u2019re going through. Helen Sanders CatPAWS<\/a> rescue gets it, too, and offers a space for anyone who also gets it, who\u2019ll never say to you, \u201cBut it was just a cat.\u201d Or a dog, or a rabbit, or a horse, or a goldfish. The members of this group will listen, connect, and support you, and you\u2019ll do the same for them.<\/p>\n The Pet Loss and Illness Support Group takes place Saturday, June 20 at 11 a.m. at the Bay Shore Church, 5100 E. The Toledo, Long Beach. No cost for the meeting, but let the leads know that you\u2019re coming here<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Vet-tech-Alex-Rivera-and-factotum-Lance-Smith.jpeg\")
Vet tech Alex Rivera and Lance Smith, Helen Sanders CatPAWS\u2019 general factotum and miracle worker, check a cat conked out with an anesthetic and ready for their fix and ear tip. Photo by Kate Karp<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/25-cats--bringing-CatPAWS-totals-up--etc.-2.jpeg\")
Mauro Pagano and Woith\u2019s 25 cats brought CatPAWS\u2019 total procedure for fixed community cats up to 1,048 for 2026 as of June 9. Since their mobile clinic opened about three years ago, CatPAWS\u2019 vets have fixed nearly 4,000 cats operating just a couple of days a week. Photo by Kate Karp<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Ivy.jpeg\")
Ivy<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Bonbon-with-one-of-her-kittens.png\")
Bonbon with one of her kittens<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Marshy.jpeg\")
Marshy<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2026-SpringSummer-Mtg-final--1-.jpeg\")
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