OPELOUSAS, La. (KLFY)– St. Landry Parish President Jesse Bellard is making one thing clear – the animal shelter and its operations are still going.
There were just some minor changes made for the safety of the staff and public.
“Last week I received a call from the shelter’s director that we were having some issues at the shelter where we could not take care of animals coming in due to lack of staff,” Bellard explains.
The COVID-19 has brought hurdles to everyday tasks and activities.
In St. Landry Parish, President Bellard was forced to scale back the intake of animals at the St. Landry Parish Animal Control.
Bellard continues, “Without a staff to clean and maintain, we can’t take them in. We had to stop for a few days until the staff was up and running.”
He adds the shelter is staying up and running despite the pandemic, however, normal operations had to change to adjust to these uncertain times.
“All we did was eliminate people coming in and dropping off animals, we still take care of calls throughout the parish,” says Bellard.
Despite a lack of animals coming in, Bellard says animals going out remains the same.
The adoption process is ongoing as animals and the staff is continuing the preparation process for all adoptions.
Bellard adds, “We want to make sure our animals are given a safe place. We couldn’t stop that.”