- California, USA -
Long Beach Post News has learned that longtime local political figures, councilman ROBERTO URANGA and his wife TONIA REYES URANGA (both pictured below) are being investigated by Long Beach Animal Control officials.
The investigation refers to the neglect of the couple’s two German shepherds named Ghost and Chloe, both around 14 years old.
On Thursday, October 29, the city of Long Beach confirmed there is an investigation but did not disclose the names of the parties involved.
Long Beach Post News however reports that “three sources with knowledge of the situation said the longtime politicians are the focus of the investigation.”
According to the news outlet, officials said in a statement that on September 13, a private animal rescue group contacted Long Beach Animal Care Services to let them know they had two dogs believed to be the victims of “animal cruelty and/or neglect.”
In a statement read through a spokesperson, ROBERTO URANGA said his dogs were well cared for, and up to date with all their vaccines and licensing.
URANGA said: "They have been in our family since birth and they are part of our family. The dogs, although aging, were always in good health with the exception of extreme allergies. The care of the dogs is extremely important to me and my family."
According to councilman URANGA, in September, for the weekend when they were out of town, the family boarded Ghost and Chloe at a local pet hotel they had used before.
URANGA claims that he and his family were facing challenges in keeping the dogs during COVID-19 and shared their concerns with the pet hotel staff.
URANGA said that the pet hotel recommended a local rescue group that could take in his dogs.
He said the pet hotel recommended a local rescue group that could take in the dogs.
Long Beach Post News reports that URANGA said: “After a long discussion, we made the hard decision to move forward with a new home for them. When we got back into town on Monday, we called the boarding facility and they informed us the dogs were fine and successfully picked up on Sunday by DBA Fix Long Beach.”
URANGA said he transferred the dogs to “what we believed was a reputable local nonprofit.”
A spokesperson for Fix Long Beach declined to comment due to the ongoing investigation.
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