THE LONG BEACH RECREATION DOG PARK ASSN.
ADABISI-ZOEIE FUND

Updated June 30, 2002

Both dogs were seriously wounded but their prognosis is good. Adabisi, a 2 1/2-year-old male, suffered a punctured jugular vein and went home with the family days after the attack; Zoeie, a 3-year-old female, underwent surgery to repair a shattered shoulder and went home with pins in her leg and shoulder in early May. Sporting a cast, she will be hobbling around on three legs for some time.

On May 17, a juvenile court judge convicted a 15-year-old Long Beach boy of two felony counts of animal cruelty and sentenced him to a camp run by the state probation department. How long the boy, whose name has not been released by authorities because of his age, will be in the camp will be determined by the department. The district attorney's office told the Garcias that the boy will likely be sentenced to four months at the camp, plus probation.

The association's Board of Directors asked VCA Lakewood Animal Hospital why it turned the Garcias away after the family indicated it could not come up with a substantial down payment to treat the dogs. See a copy of our letter and the clinic's reply.

The association has collected about $6,000 to assist the family, enough to pay the Garcias' $3,589 vet bills -- and enable us to set up a fund, the Adabisi-Zoeie Emergency Animal Assistance Fund, which we'll only use for future incidents of this magnitude. If you'd care to contribute, write a tax-deductible check to Recreation Dog Park Assn., put "Adabisi-Zoeie" on the memo line and send it to us: P.O. Box 8337, Long Beach CA 90808.

Thank you.