Los Angeles, CA — Today’s announcement by the City of Long Beach that it will terminate its relationship with the Los Angeles Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (spcaLA) came as a complete surprise to the 150-year-old charity.

For decades, spcaLA has served the Long Beach community, vastly reducing the number of homeless and abused animals through adoptions, education initiatives – including summer camp – domestic violence survivor programs, dog training classes, and much more.

“During the tenure of the City’s last Bureau Chief, Staycee Dains, spcaLA raised significant concerns to the City Manager, regarding the care of animals at the facility that the City leases back from spcaLA in Long Beach,” said spcaLA’s President, Madeline Bernstein. “Today’s surprise announcement seems to be a pre-calculated act – perhaps because the City was embarrassed by what was discovered. 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.”

In the late 1990s, the City of Long Beach asked spcaLA, an animal welfare nonprofit, to help the City with its animal overpopulation crisis. spcaLA did just that — the charity used its fundraising abilities and community connections to build the multi-million-dollar Companion Animal Village, elevating the reputation of the City nationwide. The City’s choice to send a surprise eviction notice that has no merit and hold a press conference presenting distorted information under the guise of improvements to animal care services puts unnecessary hardship on homeless animals and others who have come to depend on spcaLA programs and services in Long Beach. spcaLA intends to vigorously defend its rights in order to continue providing its programs and services in Long Beach from the facility it has operated from for decades.