Re:defeat of animal torture made felony bill in Utah;Why is it that all these "bible belt " type states are the ones with the worst records for animal care and protection? I've also wondered how much difficulty Best Friends Sanctuary faces from the state. The ignorance and lack of care where I am in south Georgia is also monumental. Our household has 23 cats all but 6 as a result of being dropped off in the neighborhood. We manage to take decent care of them, all neutered or spayed with appropriate vet care and lots of love.Finding homes for them here is not an option;anyone here who is a suitable guardian(maybe 3 other households) already has 10 or more. I've offered myself as a volunteer to the shelter in Adel (run by the police department and also to the woman who claims to run the Berrien county Humane Society shelter and not been taken up on it. I did TNR &fostering with the S.F.,CA.SPCA and have also worked as a veterinary assistant,which I let them know,so I'm really wondering what the deal is. Are there any Best Friends members out here?(Cook,Colquitt,Berrien or Lowndes counties? I'd love to link up with you. crowmorgan@netscape.com
As the new Hurricane season begins--- my wonderful group of people are preparing in case we are needed again. Our goal is to be able to hit the ground on a two (2) day notice. I pray we are not needed this year but we plan to be ready! Jo Vaughn (Cook)
PERMISSION TO CROSSPOST!!!!!! Roicy pics are up. Please take a look and see if you can help anybody, or forward to rescue orgs who has the ability to be in Lafayette, LA by Monday. The shelter is packed. It is really bad right now. While they might hold over a very few, it is getting very difficult to do so as the animals continue to come in. To those who are far away who see these pictures and want so desperately to help but can't....Roicy is not unique. The time given the animals may be much shorter than you are used to and our numbers may be much higher, but there are kill shelters in your area who need you. Please consider adopting or fostering an animal from a local kill shelter, especially those who never get picked like the large dogs, black animals, and plain vanilla animals who don't even get a pat on the head from the public. YOUR area shelters need you....please step up for them. As with all shelters right now, the cat situation is crisis level at Roicy. I was at Roicy Friday for an hour, and during that time, 3 different people came in surrendering litters of kittens. One lady had already brought in 2 litters, and had 14 in the box she brought in Friday. She had the nerve to ask to see the cats after bringing in all those kittens. I thought Virginia would explode as steam was coming out of her ears when she heard this. Needless to say, the woman did not get to see the cats. One of the employees said he estimated that 100 cats a week are coming in, mainly kittens. They are a very small facility with nowhere to put additional cages. With 3 or so adoptions of cats a week, about the same number of rescues, there is nowhere for them to go. It is incredibly sad and I wish that every resident of this parish who neglected to alter their animal was forced to tour Roicy...including the room where the gas chamber is located. There are several kittens that have been held over, but I do not expect them to be held past Monday. Rescue groups who will take cats are few and far between. We are having a Catahoula and Beagle convention at Roicy this week. There are MANY Catahoula mixes of various combinations. The purebreds have a tough time getting out, so these guys will have a really hard time. There are a Beagle/Terrier mix, a Tri Beagle, and a tri Basset/Beagle. Also, a WONDERFUL mama Lab(LOVE THIS DOG) who is still allowing her huge babies to nurse, yellow Lab, 2 Golden/Lab mixes, and a room full of wonderful mixes...many black... and we know how well they get noticed. There are a purebred white GSD and a purebred Great Pyr. Pyr rescue is full and the white GSDs don't have real great adoption rates and rescue often will not take them because of it. The Heeler mix is housebroken and just adorable. There are two very unusual, cool looking dogs this week...a Husky/Lab mix and a Lab?/Catahoula mix. Each animal is special and highly adoptable. I wish you guys could see them in person. We see only the cream of the crop make it to adoption at Roicy, so temperament will be outstanding. Roicy is very happy to work with any legit 501(c)(3) org who has the ability to get here in time. We are located about 2.5 - 3 hrs. west of New Orleans. You must furnish proof of non profit status, your adoption policies, and spay/neuter policies in advance to fax 337-291-7051 attn Virginia Lee. Roicy WILL NOT SHIP or arrange your transport. Sadly, there are few locally who are interested in helping with Roicy, so there is nobody to transport to you or drive the animals to NOLA to ship. For legit, non profits who have a relationship with Roicy, there is someone who will board for $10 per day(cash or check, no cc or Paypal) right out of Roicy...that is for 501 orgs. I will put you in touch if you email me. Roicy will most definitely adopt out of state, but you must come in person or have the assistance of a friend, relative, or rescue group here. Unfortunately, the city of Lafayette and it's administration have not seen fit to make animal welfare a priority, so Roicy remains a rabies control facility and not an adoption facility. The purpose of Roicy as seen by the city is to get the animals off the street and have them disappear as quickly, cheaply and quietly as possible. They euthanize by gas twice a week. Those animals who go up for adoption Friday at 1:30 will be euthanized as soon as Tuesday AM...which is no time considering they are closed on the weekend. Those animals put up for adoption Tuesday at 1:30 will be euthanized as soon as Friday morning. They usually will hold a few over once, but I do not expect many hold overs for the next 3 months or so. Virginia Lee, the Roicy director, put in a request for funding for a new shelter last month and it was promptly eliminated by the acting police chief, so it will not even appear on the budget request which will be going to the administration. Our police chief who is on leave was very much in favor of the new shelter....this one is not. So, as it stands now, there will be no new shelter and Roicy will continue to gas far too many adoptable animals. So, the hope of the animals here is that some org will help us get a spay/neuter program going, and that orgs from out of town will come down here on regular transports and save these beautiful animals. Debbie http://search.petfinder.com/shelterSearch/shelterSearch.cgi? animal=&breed=&age=&size=&specialNeeds=&declawedPets=&children= &status=&id=&internal=&contact=&name=&shelterid=LA40&sort=&preview=1
