Adoption

When he was handed the reins of “Wednesday's Child,” a television news segment featuring foster care children in need of adoption, William Wong prepared himself for a difficult 12 months. One year was how long the social worker figured he would have to wait before requesting an assignment transfer from his employer, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. A decade later, Wong, 40, has helped produce 425 TV segments that have resulted in more than 400 adoptions.

At 4 a.m. Friday morning, Paul Hubler's neighbor called. A bear is in my yard, he said. A few minutes later, a 400-pound ursine, believed to be the famed Meatball, was in the shallow end of Hubler's pool. It's been that kind of week. Bears are more interested in cooling off than snacking on the Italian, baklava and orange juice in our trash cans. The weather does feel like July - if we lived in New Jersey - and the biggest local news story concerns the tragic death of an Armenian man half a world away.

Amber Willard BURBANK -- More than 100 wild horses and burros gathered from herds in several Western states will be up for adoption this weekend. The animals will be available for viewing from noon to 5 p.m. Friday and beginning at 7 a.m. Saturday at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, 480 Riverside Drive. Bids for the mustangs and burros will be taken from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, with registration at 8 a.m. Those animals not chosen in the morning will be available for adoption later in the day and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Karen S. Kim GLENDALE -- Parents waiting to adopt a child will face a speedier process now that a bill authored by State Sen. Jack Scott (D-Glendale) has been signed into law. SB 104 cuts the time period that a birth mother can reclaim a baby from its adoptive parents to 30 days. Under current law, a birth parent could revoke consent for adoption up to three months after the baby has been placed in another home. Scott, the grandfather of three adopted children, said that current laws protect the birth parents but cause undue hardship on the child's stable family environment.

Tim Willert CITY HALL -- Nearly three months after being pulled from the air waves, "The Dog House" is returning with a new pair of co-hosts. The Glendale Humane Society's popular pet adoption program will return to GTV6, the city's government access station, beginning Dec. 3, city spokesman Ritch Wells said Friday. "'The Dog House' is one of our most popular programs," Wells said. "Anybody who loves animals loves the program." Co-hosting the show will be former mayor Ginger Bremberg and former city treasurer Betty Evans.

Best Friends Animal Society is hosting California's largest pet adoption festival on Sun., June 4th, from 11a.m. to 4 p.m. at Manchester Park, W. 7000 Manchester Ave. at the intersection of Lincoln Blvd., in Westchester. More than 1,000 homeless dogs, cats, puppies, kittens, rabbits and parrots from over 60 rescue groups and Los Angeles shelters will be up for adoption. Animals up for adoption will represent a wide variety of breeds, sizes, and personalities. Each animal has its own unique story - some have been rescued from mistreatment or abandonment, some have never known a home other than a shelter or foster home, and all are in need of loving families to adopt them.

You should be ashamed of your unsigned Dec. 23 editorial, in which you urge everyone to place a toy in a charity box. You write that there are children this season who "might not get a toy or stuffed plaything on Christmas morning." This is true enough. However, you go on to claim, "That's more than unjust. It's downright criminal." And who do you view as the criminal in this case? Do you blame the parents of such children? Parents who did not care enough to finish their education?

Two of the three dogs abandoned at a foreclosed home in July were adopted this week by two families from Altadena and La Crescenta. Reese, a Chihuahua mix, was adopted Monday, and Kenny, a cavalier mix, went home Tuesday morning. Sophie, the terrier mix, is still available for adoption at the Glendale Humane Society, a no-kill shelter. "Sophie is a really sweet dog who loves her tennis ball," said Star Mangasaryan, the shelter's director of operations. "She wants to be loved and play with her ball.

MAGGIE Maggie is a 2-year-old miniature pinscher who is ready for adoption. She was found as a stray and needs a permanent loving home. This sweet girl has a wonderful personality and loves to cuddle. Maggie will be spayed before going to a new home. Her identification number is A217290. The regular dog adoption fee is $85, which includes medical care prior to adoption, spaying or neutering, vaccinations and a follow-up visit at participating vets. Adoption hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

Emma, last week's Pet of the Week, is still available for adoption. Darwin is a juvenile tan-and-white long-haired rabbit. He loves to be held and petted, and already uses his litter box. Darwin's adoption fee is $30, which includes his neuter surgery, a microchip and the first set of vaccinations, as well as a free follow-up health check at a participating vet. New adopters will receive a complimentary health-and-wellness exam from VCA...

A 12-year-old cat that was resuscitated by Glendale firefighters during an apartment fire last month is now an orphan. [Updated 5:30 p.m.: At about 5 p.m. on Tuesday, the cat, Glinda, was adopted from the Pasadena Humane Society. Ricky Whitman, a spokeswoman for the shelter, said she was unsure whether the new owners had read about her plight. Even so, "She's on her way home," Whitman said. ] The owners of the black cat, which was found unconscious during the Feb. 18 blaze at the Fort Dearborn Home complex on West Doran Street, did not come forward to claim her, despite, according to fire officials, being contacted.

Walt Disney Co. is implementing a new policy to use less paper from environmentally threatened areas, a year after it was targeted by environmental protesters. In May of 2011, activists from the Rainforest Action Network hung a banner outside Disney's Burbank headquarters charging the entertainment giant with "destroying Indonesia's rainforests. " At the time, Disney called the protest a "publicity stunt" and said it had already made a commitment to "sustainable paper" in a 2010 corporate citizenship report.

At 4 a.m. Friday morning, Paul Hubler's neighbor called. A bear is in my yard, he said. A few minutes later, a 400-pound ursine, believed to be the famed Meatball, was in the shallow end of Hubler's pool. It's been that kind of week. Bears are more interested in cooling off than snacking on the Italian, baklava and orange juice in our trash cans. The weather does feel like July - if we lived in New Jersey - and the biggest local news story concerns the tragic death of an Armenian man half a world away.

It's not easy being a black cat, especially during the fall, when the black cat's dubious distinction of being a bad omen rises with the lore of Halloween. It's a myth that can be hard to overcome when trying to find a new home. In fact, said Katherine Juette, a volunteer with the Los Angeles-based Kitten Rescue, black cats are the most difficult ones to find adoptive families for. But that doesn't mean black cats are unloved. In fact, once a year, the nonprofit organization stages its “A Black Cat Affair” to connect loving families with the furry felines.

When he was handed the reins of “Wednesday's Child,” a television news segment featuring foster care children in need of adoption, William Wong prepared himself for a difficult 12 months. One year was how long the social worker figured he would have to wait before requesting an assignment transfer from his employer, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. A decade later, Wong, 40, has helped produce 425 TV segments that have resulted in more than 400 adoptions.

There are many claims that people do not clean up after their pets - just one of the many positive things about the new pet-waste stations that city officials are trying to get neighborhoods to “adopt” (“Pet stations will aid curbside pickup,” July 6). As more neighbors use them, it will also mean less waste entering the storm drains, keeping pollutants out of the storm drain system. If you have a pet and have been leaving your pet waste out, just walk a little more until you see the stations with baggies.

The City Council approved new campaign finance rules Tuesday night following concerns that contributions may influence decisions on awarding contracts or land-use entitlements. The concerns were ignited by a federal investigation into alleged fraud by Advanced Development & Investment Inc. - a low-income housing developer that allegedly had subcontractors give $100,000 to past City Council campaigns on its behalf. Council members said the new rules will make fundraising more difficult, but the change was the right thing to do in order to restore public trust.

A year ago, the Warner Bros. facilities department was looking for a pet project to give back to the community. The Burbank Animal Shelter fit the bill. “We went over with them all the things we needed, and they were able to do a lot,” said Denise Fleck, president of the Volunteers of the Burbank Animal Shelter. One of the major improvements the studio department made, Fleck said, was pouring a concrete slab in the dogs' play area and covering the area with a shade cloth.

Glendale Unified officials this week outlined plans to eventually require that incoming kindergarten students be at least 5 years old, eliminating from the classroom the younger set who experts say can sometimes be underprepared and need more help later on. The Kindergarten Readiness Act, signed into law in 2010 by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, dictates that starting in 2014, all students entering kindergarten must turn 5 years old by Sept. 1 - three months earlier than the current Dec. 2 cutoff.