Thelma Burns Chauvin
April 25, 2012
MacDonell home’s future in question
May 2, 2012
If you’re looking to adopt a pet, now is the time, according to local animal shelter officials.
“In the spring, we get a big influx of animals,” Lafourche Parish Animal Shelter clerk Kelli Toups said. “May and April are when the pet population at the shelter is at its highest because it is also when the reproductive time for animals is at its highest.”
As of last week, the shelter housed 15 cats, two of which were kitten siblings, and 18 dogs, three of which were puppies. According to Toups, the shelter’s numbers fluctuate from year-to-year, but overall have been steadily climbing.
“In February, we had 195 pets come through the shelter,” Toups said. “Last year, we had 200 in February. The highest monthly census during 2011 was 357, and that was in May.”
In Houma, the Terrebonne Animal Shelter’s peak population months April until as late as August.
“The shelter can hold up to 110 cats and dogs, and we average about 133 in here in a week,” Terrebonne Animal Shelter manager Valerie Robinson said. “Right now, we have 30 cats and 50 dogs, but not all of these are available because some are involved in court cases of animal abuse. We usually adopt out an average of 10 animals a week.”
In 2010, the shelter took in 4,605 felines, 122 of which were adopted. More than 100 cats were rescued or returned to the owner. But the majority of the cats ended up being euthanized. In the same year, the shelter also took in 2,368 dogs. Less than half of the dogs were rescued, returned to an owner or adopted, while 1,563 were euthanized. The average weekly intake of animals that year was 145 per week.
“In the last 10 years, there has been an increase in our numbers, but we have had a decrease in the number of surrenders,” Robinson said.
Currently the Terrebonne shelter has 12 employees and 10 active volunteers, while the Lafourche shelter has three employees and utilizes inmates from the Lafourche Parish Jail.
At both shelters, cats are housed in enclosed areas and dogs are outside in separate cages with both indoor and outdoor access.
That dog in the window
According to both Toups and Robinson, dogs are the most popular, most often adopted as pets.
The Terrebonne shelter receives a mixture of pit bulls, Labs, beagle mixes, terrier mixes, Chihuahuas, Dashunds, among other varying breeds.
“People think that we don’t get any pure bred dogs in here, but we usually have at least one,” Robinson said. “We get lots of requests from northern states for the terrier mixes. I guess they like the cute mutts.”
“We get mostly lab mixes and pit bulls,” Toups said. “We get lots of big dogs, too. People get them and don’t know they are sometimes hard to keep up.”
Toups stressed that Lafourche is extremely careful when adopting out pit bulls, while the Terrebonne shelter only turns this breed over to rescue groups, instead of adopting them out.
“We work very hard to feel out the potential adoptive person or family and what the dog’s home environment may be like,” Toups said. “We do not want to place them somewhere that may not be safe for the dog or a family.”
Spring may be the busiest time in terms of available pets, but it is not the busiest time for adoptions.
“Christmas is our most popular time for adoptions, and we have a program called Foster for the Holidays, where we allow animals to stay with families around the holidays,” Toups said. “It’s a great experience for parents who want to teach kids responsibilities, and it’s also a good way to make sure a pet is a good idea and good fit for a person or family.”
Even though the shelter offers the trial run adoption program, those interested may host an animal for up to a week at any time during the year. Likewise, the Terrebonnne Shelter allows prospective pet parents to take an animal home for a few days prior to the spaying or neutering vet appointment.
At the Lafourche shelter, adoption fees for dogs are $30 for males and $35 for females. Adoption fees for cats are $15 for males and $25 for females. These prices do not include spaying or neutering, and those who adopt an animal are required to sign a contract that they will have the animal fixed within six months.
Adoption prices at the Terrebonne shelter are higher, but the cost includes spaying and neutering. The shelter partners with Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals on, shots and mircochipping. For a kitten under six months, the adoption fee is $75 and for a cat, $50. Puppies under six months are $125, and dogs are $100.
Getting the word out
When it comes to spreading the word about animals up for adoption, both shelters rely heavily on the Internet, utilizing Facebook pages and www.petfinder.com to post images and information about the animals as well as local publications.
“Petfnder and Facebook are fantastic,” Robinson said. “People can check out the pets before they come here, and that helps. There are lots of people are using the internet now when it comes to finding a pet to adopt.”
“Our shelter volunteers have also started a Facebook page that features professional photos of the animals,” Toups said. “We have flown some animals out when making arrangements to get them to new owners. We once had a family that was visiting for the holidays from North Carolina adopt a dog. They called us on their way here, we got the paperwork started, and the dog left with them.”
In Terrebonne, the shelter also partners with Petsmart and Petco to aid adoption efforts.
“Petsmart Charities Rescue Waggin’ comes here and gets a minimum of 15 dogs each week, sometimes more, and brings the dogs to northern states where the adoption rate are higher,” Robinson said. “They even have waiting lists for some breeds, like daschunds.”
Robinson said that the twice a month adoption days at the two businesses provide a more relaxed setting for those looking to adopt.
“People feel less overwhelmed with the choices at the adoption events versus coming to the shelter, where we have so many animals,” she said.
The downside to pet overpopulation
Efforts to help find the animals homes are usually successful at the Lafourche Shelter, and the shelter views euthanization as a last resort.
“As long as we have the room to keep animals, we do not euthanize,” Toups said. “We do keep the animals, and we call the local animal rescue groups when we have animals that have been here for a while. We have a high turnover rate for getting animals in and adopted right back out.”
According to Robinson, the Terrebonne shelter euthanizes mostly feral cats, unless the staff can get them to “friendly up. If we have one with kittens and we can interact with the kittens and make them tame, we try to adopt them out as well,” Robinson said.
Both shelters view spaying and neutering as the best way to keep the local cat and dog populations down.
“We have spayed and neutered more than 2,500 animals through our low cost program. We can stop the problem of overpopulation where it starts,” Robinson said. “This may lower our intake numbers, we hope. It’s also medically beneficial to fix your animal because you ovarian or testicular cancer. There are too many pros to not fix your animals. If you don’t plan on breeding your pet, have it fixed.”
Robinson said that Lafourche residents are also invited to utilize the program.
To find out about volunteering at either shelter visit www.tpcg.org/animal_shelter/ or www.petfinder.com/shelters/LA179.html.
Louise Cheetham of Baton Rouge plays with Terrebonne Parish Animal Shelter dog Rebel. Cheetham was visiting the shelter with her dog Saffie to see how the two dogs got along before adopting Rebel.
