Officials defend care at parish animal shelter

The leader of a St. Mary animal welfare group is suggesting an advisory committee as well as other animal shelter improvements after social media posts and news stories have painted an unflattering picture of the St. Mary facility.
Facebook posts and stories by two Lafayette television stations last week showed pictures of dogs with a tumor, a missing eye, a head wound and other signs of what looks like a lack of treatment.
The allegations that injured animals are sometimes left for days without treatment has drawn the attention of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. In a letter to parish officials, PETA Animal Care and Control Issues Manager Teresa Chagrin urged the parish offer prompt veterinary care to injured animals and to stop requiring fees from those who want to surrender pets at the shelter.
The fees can lead pet owners to abandon pets by a roadside, Chagrin wrote.
Animals are taken to the parish-run shelter after they’re picked up as strays, after biting reports, because they’re abandoned by owners, and as victims of cruelty or neglect.
Joy Sanders, president of St. Mary Animal Advocates, told the Parish Council on Wednesday that the TV stories and social media posts lack important context.
The photos came from Animal Advocates, which comes to the shelter on Saturdays to examine newly arrived animals and document their condition, Sanders said.
“We take care of what we can take care of,” Sanders said. “It’s not always as speedy as we would like.”
One constraint on the availability of veterinary care is money. About $210,000 comes from the parish general fund each year to operate the shelter, Chief Administrative Officer Henry C. “Bo” LaGrange said. That’s on top of fees paid by municipalities for the shelter’s services: $25,000 from Morgan City, $6,000 from Franklin, more than $3,000 from Patterson, $2,500 from Berwick and $750 from Baldwin.
The key needs are volunteers and donations, said Parish President David Hanagriff.
He defended the operation of the shelter.
“I guarantee you [animals] are getting better care than they are out on the street,” Hanagriff said.
Two council members, James Bennett of Morgan City and Craig Mathews of Jeanerette, said they have inspected the shelter since the allegations surfaced.
Bennett said he found clean kennels, properly stored food and clean bowls.
“I was impressed …,” Bennett said. “I went there a couple of times and didn’t see what was in the pictures.”
Mathews said he didn’t see any signs of neglect, either, and he criticized the media accounts of conditions there.
“I believe there was malicious intent,” Mathews said. “I hope we can get past this negative publicity. …”
Sanders came to the meeting armed with recommendations. Among them:
—Improving the shelter’s cat room by replacing a rusted-out door that can allow escapes or moving the cats to the shelter’s new building.
—More training for those who handle cats as a way to prevent injury.
—Security cameras at entrances to discourage thefts.
—-Waiving the $25 “pull” fee that Animal Advocates pays for each dog taken to the shelter. The parish pays to feed and house the dogs, Sanders said, but Animal Advocates pays for vaccinations, heartworm tests and vetting.
Pull fees to St. Mary Parish cost Animal Advocates about $4,600 in 2020, and veterinarian fees in Franklin alone cost about $8,700 last year, Sanders said. Together, those two totals consume about half the donations to Animal Advocates.
—Asking the shelter staff to examine dogs and cats more closely for tight or embedded collars.
—More staff members to allow animals to be removed when kennels are being cleaned.
—Applying for grants from organizations like the Bissell Foundation.
—Creating positive press for the shelter.
Sanders said more volunteers might mean more problems.
“It is our opinion that our shelter is not set up for a large volunteer program,” Sanders wrote in material provided to the council. “It would be a danger to the animals and possibly a liability to the shelter.
“We would like to work towards having a more volunteer friendly environment in the future.”