St.Landry Parish: Due to overcrowding and a parvo outbreak, the St.Landry Parish Animal Shelter is closed to new intakes and only taking in emergency cases.
"The St.Landry Animal Shelter has been closed for several reasons. About three weeks ago, they took a cruelty case of almost 40 dogs. Those dogs did not have medical care and went into another section of the shelter like they should be sectioned off from the rest of the population. We did have some parvo at the shelter, and they weren't all just puppies. They were adults," said Cathy Bissell, the Founder of the Bissell Pet Foundation.
Bissell and her foundation partnered with the Parish animal shelter to provide resources that include housing, spaying, and neutering.
They are also helping combat another problem the shelter faces: overcrowding.
"At the time of those dogs, they had over 100 dogs already at the shelter, putting them above the limit. And they had multiple dogs from the cruelty case, and staying on top of the population was very tough," said Bissell.
"So we need the community's help in being responsible pet owners by spaying and neutering their pets and rehoming the pets they can no longer keep," said Lynn Borque, director of St. Landry Parish Animal Control.
"They are constantly picking up strays, and it does not feel like it to people in the Parish, but they are working hard to bring in pets all the time," said Bissell.
The Parish is now working to put on an event to help ease the overcrowding, with help from the Bissell Pet Foundation.
"We will hold a free waived event to help with the overcrowding problem. It will be from May 1st to May 15th, and we will be out in the community doing free waived adoptions," said Borque.
The first event will be held at Tractor Supply on May 4th, and the other will be held at Petense on May 11th.
"The real problem comes from the community, and the community needs to vaccinate their pets and keep them vaccinated; they also need to keep their animals in their yards and take care of them. They would help cut down disease at the shelter and the high population of puppies and kittens that still come into the shelter," said Bissell.
Since the illness and overpopulation, Bissell and her team have worked around the clock to nurse the dogs from the cruelty case back to health.
"We did get the cruelty case dogs moved, which was a great relief," said Bissell.
Bissell says they will continue to work with the Parish to get more animals out so they can ease the overcrowding; they have also spearheaded resources and programs to assist with the issue.
"We pay for all the vaccines in the shelter, and we are organizing spay and neuter for the community in St. Landry so that people can pick up vouchers," said Bissell.
If you would like to learn more about the Bissel Pet Foundation and learn about how to care for animals or get involved, you can visit the website here .
