Hi: I’m Lexi, a 12-year-old Great Dane, and this is my best friend Cru.
My favorite thing to do is to hang out with my best friend on my bed while she pets my velvet, soft ears.
Since Cru is so tiny I have found a new purpose in protecting the house and I sniff everyone out before they come close to my girl (of course they need to stay 6 feet away).
∙Effective Monday, March 30, 2020 and until further notice, all nonessential services at Ventura County Animal Services (VCAS) will be discontinued and some ancillary services will be reduced. The goal is to keep people in their homes and carefully limit the number of animals housed on-site. Please know that VCAS will never turn away a sick or injured animal.
The following services will be discontinued:
Stray Animals – VCAS is strongly encouraging residents to only bring in stray cats who appear to be sick or injured. Cats who appear healthy should remain in-place as they likely have a source of food, water and shelter and may be cared for by someone in the neighborhood.
Kittens – Mating season will soon begin as the weather warms. Litters of kittens should only be brought to VCAS whose mother has not returned for them after 6-8 hours – please watch and wait from a distance. Mothers often leave kittens in order to hunt for food and they expect to return to their kittens. Please do not remove kittens if not absolutely necessary. (Ref. Dr. Kate Hurley, Program Director – Koret Shelter Medicine Program – University of Davis)
Lost pet pick-up: VCAS is encouraging those who are reclaiming their lost pet to please call ahead and bring proof of ownership when reclaiming lost pets. (805) 388-4341
Animal Control Officers will continue to respond to public safety and animal welfare calls, but less urgent calls will be deferred until further notice. All Field Officers will attempt to return found animals to their owners. Field Officers will be donning Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) during all interactions with the public.
As stated in a previous press release:
The Simi Valley Animal Shelter remains closed and the Camarillo Shelter is restricting all nonessential on-site and casual visits.
TNR/Community Cat public spay/neuter services are suspended.
All public and community outreach events are cancelled including rabies vaccination clinics.
Pet licenses can only be processed online at www.vcas.us/licensing or via U.S. mail. Payment should be sent to Ventura County Animal Services 600 Aviation Drive, Camarillo, CA 93010
VCAS is committed to ensuring that the highest quality of care is provided to our animals. Our team of highly dedicated staff are on-site to feed, clean, and care for all animals at the shelter. Staff also provide enrichment activities as well as medical care as needed.
We have received information that there are various rumors circulating regarding the potential for euthanasia of animals during the COVID-19 situation. VCAS remains 100% committed to lifesaving activities during these times and we will continue to provide care to all healthy and treatable animals. Despite the challenges facing our shelter due to COVID-19, animals will not be euthanized due to time or space. Please help us to curtail the spread of such rumors.
We continue our commitment to saving animals’ lives and reuniting lost pets with their families. If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please call (805) 388-4341, we are here for you.
∙To assist pet owners and shelters affected by the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, the ASPCA ® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ®) is launching the ASPCA Relief & Recovery Initiative, a $5 million multipronged strategic relief response to the crisis. The response includes $2 million in grants to animal shelters in critical need of funds and pet food to pet owners who face challenges providing food for their animals.
“In addition to the unprecedented challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has created for people, it is also putting animals at-risk by straining essential owner and shelter resources. Considering the vital role pets play in our lives – especially in times of crisis and stress – it’s extremely important to safeguard their health and welfare as much as we possibly can,” said ASPCA President and CEO Matt Bershadker.
Added Bershadker, “We are grateful to work with generous donors and the larger animal welfare community who are stepping up, thinking creatively and courageously, and forging new paths to meet this need. Across the world, people are turning to their pets for comfort, and with the ASPCA Relief & Recovery Initiative, we are committed to helping animals return that love and comfort back to their families by working to ensure their health and safety as we weather this crisis together.”
Emergency Relief for Shelters
The ASPCA is launching a minimum $2 million emergency relief fund for shelters that have been hit hard by this crisis. Grants will help shelters fund essential lifesaving services such as basic operations, safety net, adoptions and foster programs, and veterinary services, which are proving to be crucial animal welfare services during this crisis.
Pet Food Distribution
The ASPCA’s response also includes the creation of regional pet food distribution centers, starting first in New York City, one of the U.S. cities most severely affected by the pandemic. The centers, provided in partnership with the Petco Foundation, will give dog and cat owners free access to critical food supplies as the outbreak continues to spread.
ASPCA will also operate regional food distribution centers in Miami, Los Angeles, and North Carolina, where the ASPCA has operations. More information about specific locations and dates will be available in the coming weeks.
Petco Foundation President Susanne Kogut said, “At the Petco Foundation, we have been working diligently to mobilize the community to foster or adopt to prevent COVID-19 from becoming a crisis for our pets. We must all come together to support our animal shelters and our community, which is why we’re proud to also support this initiative,” said Kogut. “The health and safety of pets needs to remain a top concern because they provide vital comfort and companionship to people during this very stressful time.”
The COVID-19 relief response speaks to the ASPCA’s longstanding commitment to the animal welfare community and people and their pets. In an effort to create better access to crucial services for underserved pet owners and improve the health and welfare of dogs and cats nationwide, the ASPCA has launched programs and partnerships in New York City, Los Angeles and Miami that make veterinary care more accessible and affordable, and continues to develop initiatives to serve the more than 21 million pets living in poverty with their owners nationwide. In North Carolina, the ASPCA operates the ASPCA Behavioral Rehabilitation Center (BRC), a facility dedicated to rehabilitating fearful, under socialized dogs, and ASPCA Spay/Neuter Alliance, the nationally recognized leader in high-quality, high-volume, low-cost spay/neuter training and services.
For more information on the ASPCA’s efforts to help at-risk animals, please visit www.aspca.org.
Mutts
Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
3 out of 4 palm trees
Outmatched (Season 1) – Hulu & FOX.com
What do you get when two average high school students get married and have four children, three extreme geniuses and the fourth you can’t be quite sure about? You get two adults constantly Outmatched by their children. This hilarious sitcom features the everyday life of blue collar couple Mike (Jason Biggs) and Kay (Maggie Lawson) and the unique challenges they face raising three kids with genius I.Q.s that constantly challenge and confuse the simpler minds of their parents in ways you wouldn’t normally find in the usual family dynamic.
The kids all have extremely different interests and specialties: Brian (Connor Kalopsis) is 16 and gifted in science and tech but very socially awkward; Nicole (Ashley Boettcher) is 12 and has political aspirations though struggles with unfounded intellectual inferiority; Marc (Jack Stanton) is 10, gifted in music though has a strange dark side constantly sharing intellectual facts on mortality; and Leila (Oakley Bull) is 8 and doesn’t appear to have a genius I.Q. like her siblings do and her simple way of life is the only relief Mike and Kay have from constant intellectual overload.
What do these parents hope for? Usually the things most parents would avoid, like being happy to finally have to go down to the principal’s office for something Marc had done, which ended up being bullying, but not any student, he was constantly correcting and belittle the intelligence of his teacher. They escape to their “parent fort” in the basement where they drink beer and ease the stress of their mentally challenging lives with things like strip poker.
The pilot opens with them being told that their youngest son Marc is a genius, to which they respond to by breaking a cupboard door, cursing and gestures of loss and disappointment. When the woman shared it was the highest she personally tested, it starts a competition in the house over who’s I.Q. is highest with the older kids trying various ways to intellectually trick their parents into finding out their number, which was intentionally kept from them. At one point Mike senses that he’s being tricked, but can’t figure out how and calls Cay for backup.
Through the 10 episodes we meet Mike and Cay friends, Irwin (Finesse Mitchell) and Rita (Tisha Campbell-Martin) who discover much to their surprise that they are the children’s guardians during Nicole’s “Guardians of Geniuses” PowerPoint presentation. There’s also a surprise visit from grandparents Jay (Tony Danza) and Sylvia (Caroline Aaron), who also cannot relate to the genius children, Jay saying openly for that reason Leila was his favorite.
With so many challenging things happening to everyone, I just wanted to share something that was completely void of seriousness and filled with lighthearted comedy, and sure the laugh track is a bit cheesy, but the writing is witty and portrays some funny and completely unusual family situations. Watch Outmatched on HULU or www.fox.com/outmatched
Rated: TV-14
10 Episodes: 22 minutes each
∙ A potential positive outcome from people being forced to stay home is that some companies will realize that it might be beneficial to let employees work at home. Efficiency might improve, and they would see that they don’t need 40,000 square feet of office space. Plus, it would help the environment by keeping cars off the road.
Perhaps on the negative side some buyers will have gotten comfortable ordering products online and having goods being delivered to their homes, so they might stop shopping at local businesses.
∙Following the county’s announcement, the city of Ventura decided to close its parks, including Arroyo Verde, Mission and Plaza, as well as its beaches, the Ventura Pier and the promenade. They mainly just closed parking lots, so some folks are still using these facilities.
I have been asked why Mayor Matt LaVere decided to do this, so will briefly explain how our local government works. The mayor is a city council member who is selected to the post by the other city council members. He/she has just one vote like all members.
The daily workings of Ventura are made by our City Manager Alex McIntyre who is the “boss”. He explained, “As City Manager, I hold two titles – City Manager and Director of Disaster Services. Under the second authority, I have the general ability to make such declarations with the Council affirming them. This action generally does not come from the Council rather from the facts that dictate the need for immediate action. Given the gravity of the health crisis facing us all, creating opportunities for greater social distancing is going to keep people healthy and save lives. That is critical at this time.”
The city council hires (and fires) the city manager and city attorney.
∙You will note that our recent issues contain more non-Ventura articles as we report information on the coronavirus for the community. I hope that all of you are managing okay under these extremely difficult times.
∙Governments are telling renters to just not pay rents currently. All landlords are not wealthy developers, and many depend on the money that they get from rents to survive, so we must also consider them as small business owners during these times.
∙Malaysian’s have a great sense of humor.
Malaysia’s Ministry for Women, Family and Community Development issued a series of online posters on Facebook and Instagram with the hashtag #WomenPreventCOVID19. It advised the nation’s women to help with the country’s partial lockdown by not nagging their husbands.
The ministry also advised women to refrain from being “sarcastic” if they are asked for help with household chores. And it urged women working from home to dress up and wear makeup.
∙As you might know, the Breeze (and all newspapers) is really suffering financially during these troubled times with a lack of advertising, so we are asking our readers to consider helping. More about this on page xx.
Even though we appreciate any help we can get, I found a few emails from Trump fans very disturbing. They basically said that if I stop commenting about Trump and stop including readers negative emails about him, that they would contribute financially to the paper.
This is a new way of shutting down the freedom of the press…….. bribery. Not even Trump has tried that. One of the stalwarts of a democracy is complete freedom of the media, newspapers, internet and television. Without these freedoms we are no different than China.
Once again, I ask Trump fans to send in opinions about why they support Trump. All we ever get are emails telling me to shut up and criticizing our readers. I am happy to publish letters supporting Trump, but we just don’t get any. They can be as simple as, “I think Trump is a great president.” Let’s hear from Trump supporters.
∙At a recent White House briefing, Jonathan Karl asked the president what he regarded to be a fundamental question about the coronavirus pandemic. The question…., “And everybody who needs one will be able to get a ventilator?”
Donald Trump’s reply was probably the strangest ABC News’ chief White House correspondent has ever had from a US president.
“Look,” he said. “Don’t be a cutie pie. OK?” Trump went on. Karl, he said, was “a wise guy” too.
Trump said of the coronavirus: “You can call it a germ, you can call it a flu, you can call it a virus, you know you can call it many different names. I’m not sure anybody even knows what it is.”
Trump said he instructed Vice President Mike Pence not to reach out to governors who aren’t “appreciative” of his administration’s efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus in their states. In other words, if they aren’t really nice to him he is willing to let American’s die. Reminds me of Eric Cartman on South Park when his friends aren’t nice to him, he says, “Screw you guys, I’m going home.”
∙The Florida megachurch pastor who made national headlines for holding crowded services has been arrested for defying government orders amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Rodney Howard-Browne, the pastor of The River at Tampa Bay Church, argued his congregation was essential, on par with Walmart. However, law enforcement officials who said they tried to reason with him, disagreed, charging him with “unlawful assembly” and “violation of public health emergency order.”
At least bishops in New Jersey and Massachusetts have granted permission for Catholics to eat meat during the remaining Fridays of Lent.
∙ According to a poll conducted March 25-28 by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and MetLife released on Friday, 24% of small businesses say they will close permanently within two months or less due to the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
Eleven percent of small businesses say they will close within one month and 24% percent of small businesses are already shut down on a temporary basis.
The poll found that it is likely that 54 percent of all small businesses will close temporarily in the next 14 days – 40% of businesses surveyed that have not yet temporarily closed are expecting to do so in that time frame.
Hopefully Ventura businesses can get financial help and will re-open when all this is over. The reality is many mom and pop businesses always struggle to stay open during good times. This is catastrophic – is the government actually doing enough?
When my daughter was born 16 years ago in March, I remember thinking, “Great! March is a good month to have a birthday because nothing ever happens in March.” Well, except for St. Patrick’s Day. Then the pandemic hit and an entire birthday weekend went out the window. Or down the sink along with all the hand soap.
We are only humans so after the initial disappointment of cancelling her sweet 16 bash, we adapted and started slowly keeping our distance. We also upped our handwashing rate from three times a day to 33 times now probably.
Then we dusted off the old Kitchenaid mixer and Dutch oven. And we started cooking and baking. A lot. The kitchen had been my refuge a lifetime ago before life and parenthood took over. With all this downtime, I’ve experimented with so many good recipes and renamed them. The lockdown lemon cake was picture-worthy but not lemony enough, according to my daughter. Then there’s the social distancing sourdough starter which is akin to waiting for the cable guy to arrive. And this is why people buy and not make sourdough bread. Don’t even get me started on the pandemic pork belly which my daughter refuses to eat. #toughcrowd
All baking and cooking aside, we are blessed to be together. The hurried meal times, quick car trips and the hustle and bustle of everyday life now seem to be a thing of the past, replaced by leisurely walks in the neighborhood and simpler choices (printed or plaid pjs; shower in the morning, evening or not at all).
But I’m still going to get myself some isolation ice cream when this is all over.
Mira Reverente
As one of the Staff Photographers for the Ventura Breeze my main activity was to photograph public events, and with sequestering in place there are fewer publics to photograph. For some of us sequestering is saving some money, driving around town less means purchasing much less gasoline, Shopping for a whole week instead of when needed saves gas and shopping money, the entertainment closures is saving me money, and non-essential stores closed is saving money. Overall, this sequestering order is saving money for some.
Michael Gordon
Mornings aren’t that different. We get up early, play with the dogs, make coffee, tidy the house etc. Okay, one little thing – we didn’t used to spray the newspaper.
Then comes the Big Question of the day: do we need to go anywhere? Usually it’s no. We are both in the Shelter in Place category due to age or health.
No bird rescue, Garden activities, trail hostings, classroom helper, event booths, all the things we enjoy and fill out days with – darn. No board meetings – okay, that’s not so bad.
So what do we do all day? He tore his car apart, fixed it, then planted a veggie patch. I have been reorganizing, finding projects, baking, picking up books and taking them to Little Free Libraries. And I read. And sit outside watching the birds, clouds, insects.
And social media has gone from entertainment to necessity. We keep up with family, friends, causes and so on. We have a ZOOM meeting tonight!
But as a rule no evening events either: talks, concerts, plays. We don’t have a TV, so aren’t tempted to sit around and watch it. We read, listen to music, and of course the Big Question: do we need to go anywhere tomorrow?
Jill Forman
You know that “time” we always wish we had to do…whatever. Well, now we have it. And are we doing those things we’ve put off? Me – not really. I’ve been doing stuff, but not really the stuff on my every-growing list. I am finding that my attention span is shorter now, which means my motivation is too.
The first three weeks of stay-at-home I was already there, recuperating from pneumonia. So that slowed everything to a crawl temporarily. I am just now starting to get back in gear.
I’ve done a good bit of reading, of course. That’s what I do most of. Netflix is my friend. I’ve even finally tackled a few bits of organization – pulling out old papers to shred, compiling some records that have been drifting about in myriad places instead of where they should be. But that’s slow going.
I enjoy cross-stitch needlework and finally started a big project that’s been on my to-do list for several years. Who knows, I may even get it finished!
In some ways, this isolation has been a good thing. A chance to regroup, rethink and establish priorities. I needed that. Just wish it hadn’t happened in this way.
Shirley Lorraine
I’ve spent the last fourteen years in virtual solitary confinement, working my trade as a graphic artist. A downturn in business required me to seek part-time employment, which came to me in the form of being a cashier at a grocery store a couple of towns over. I’ve gone from seeing maybe one or two people per month to maybe one hundred and fifty or so a day,
Alfred J. Lewis
Just as the Thomas Fire, Montecito Debris Flow and Hill/Woolsey Fires pushed Santa Barbara and Ventura county small businesses to the brink of collapse, the COVID-19 pandemic is significantly affecting the economic vitality these businesses bring to the community. Local non-profit Women’s Economic Ventures (WEV, www.wevonline.org) primarily serves micro-businesses, defined as those with fewer than five employees and less than $1 million in annual revenues, by providing business training, coaching, and loans to more than 300 local business owners each year.
Most small businesses do not have the cash flow, reserves or insurance coverage to withstand a short-term interruption in sales, much less the indefinite impact of a national health crisis. As with the previous natural disasters, WEV’s business resources, guidance, financial training, support and Quick Response Loans are available to help local businesses adapt and survive during these challenging times. Since the virus first began to impact the region, WEV has experienced a significant influx of calls from business owners seeking both advice and emergency funding.
Many small businesses will need support now and in the coming months. WEV is assisting business owners through a Response Line (English 805-456-2342, Spanish 805.908.0096) and a Quick Response Loan program. Quick Response Loans offer financial support and assistance to businesses experiencing economic hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. WEV loans up to $10,000 with no payments for the first three payment cycles will help business owners, like Moes, adapt in unpredictable times. For information on Quick Response Loans visit loans.wevonline.org/qrl.
WEV CEO Kathy Odell says, “Our local small business community will not survive this catastrophe without immediate, locally driven relief efforts. During the recent natural disasters, only a third of SBA Disaster Loan applications were successful, and even those who were approved had to wait weeks to receive their funds. We want small business owners to know they can reach out for help immediately and that WEV, as well as agencies like SCORE and EDC are available to help with the rigorous SBA loan application.”
Women’s Economic Ventures is a non-profit dedicated to creating an equitable and just society through the economic empowerment of women. WEV provides training, consulting and loans to help entrepreneurs start, grow and thrive in business. WEV serves Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. While WEV targets its services toward women, it helps men as well. Services are provided in both English and Spanish.
