In The News - 2018

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January 12, 2018 - Letter to the editor

Dear Editor:
On behalf of the Friends of Culver City Animals, I want to the City Council for their vote on January 8, 2018 to increase the budget for services for Culver City pets and wildlife.
 
Culver City pets and wildlife are very fortunate to benefit from our own outstanding Culver City Animal Services Program, with Officer Corolla Fleeger on duty Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.  Officer Fleeger’s direct number is (310) 253-6143.  Animal services can also be reached via the Culver City Police Department at (310) 837-1221.
 
Culver City utilizes the excellent and humane spcaLA-South Bay shelter located in the City of Hawthorne at 12910 Yukon Avenue where all of our lost and stray pets and wildlife are to be taken.  The telephone number for spcaLA-South Bay is (310) 676-1149.  Los Angeles County provides back up field service and temporary shelter for our animals until they are transferred to spcaLA-South Bay.
 
We live in an exceptional city that truly cares about ALL of our residents.
 
Deborah Weinrauch, Director
Friends of Culver City Animals

September 6, 2018 - Letters to the Editor
Culver City Observer & Culver City News

Coyote Crisis Requires Community Solution

When I moved to Culver City in 1999 close to West LA College, I soon became aware of the presence of coyotes.  Occasionally one would scamper through my neighborhood and quickly disappear back into the hills. When I called the LA County Department of Animal Care and Control because I had a newborn and was worried about taking walks with him knowing coyotes were in the area, the County representative said they would come out only if I trapped the animal.

Fast forward to 2018.  We now have our own Culver City Animal Services Officer and numerous members of the Culver City Police Department and California Fish and Wildlife working on our current coyote crisis.  Our Police Department has spent countless hours including information on the Culver City website, meeting with resident groups, setting up a Wildlife Watch Committee, asking for and evaluating reports from the public, establishing a dedicated Coyote Hotline (310-253-6141), going on special night patrols, and much more.

Our City Council and our City Manager are also very proactive in the solution to this serious problem.

 We never know where and when starving coyotes will attack.  We would all like to wave a magic wand and make them disappear, but that cannot happen.  What can happen is that we, as a community, work with our government and each other by being vigilant, reviewing the www.culvercity.org website, notifying neighbors of the situation, keeping our pets indoors and never unattended outside, carrying protective devices (pepper spray, a belt, a whistle, etc.), reporting sightings immediately to CCPD, volunteering through CCPD for the Wildlife Watch Committee, and remaining respectful.  It is heartbreaking and frightening to lose our pets and feral kitties, but we are stronger, smarter and more numerous than all of the coyotes in our midst, and thanks to the support from our government, we can and will be part of the solution.

Deborah Weinrauch
Director, Friends of Culver City Animals

November 1, 2018 - Letters to the Editor
Culver City News, Culver City Crossroads and Culver City Catalyst

Dear Editor
 
In Culver City we strive to be a “city of  kindness” through caring about each other and our community health and safety issues, our animal population and the environment.  On November 6, 2018, we will be able to vote for Proposition 12, an animal welfare law that will extend Proposition 2 enacted 10 years ago, by shifting the egg market to completely cage-free and pushing factory farms to house pregnant pigs and baby calves in cage-free facilities as well.  Currently, chickens, pigs and cows are confined to tiny gestation crates and battery cages, resulting in unimaginable suffering for the animals, the risk of disease and contamination in the food we eat, and increased toxic emission into our environment.
On November 6, VOTE YES ON PROP. 12 for a healthier and kinder life for you, animals and our planet.
 
For more information please visit:  www.preventcrueltyca.com
 
Deborah Weinrauch
District Leader, District 37 - The Humane Society of the United States
Director, Friends of Culver City Animals