LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) — The Lafayette Animal Shelter & Care Center is facing the possibility of losing its “No-kill” status, because the number of dogs and cats, pets and strays people are returning to the shelter is on the rise.
If the trend continues, it could jeopardize the shelter’s “No kill” status.
The shelter has 70 cat kennels and 90 dog kennels. That might not be enough room at times, due to the high number of pet drop-offs recently.
“The worst-case scenario is what we had last Monday, when we had zero empty kennels,” said Robert Benoit, chief of staff for LCG. “We had every kennel full of Monday of last week. It was really strange to have that many in there.”
There were 60 dogs and cats taken to the shelter in one day last week. Benoit says that’s way too many.
“That’s just a phenomenal amount in one day. Many of those were kittens. It is kitten season. That’s to be expected. Only three or four of the people coming in were giving up their own dogs. The lion’s share are people finding stray animals and bringing them to the shelter,” said Benoit.
Back in February, before the shelter moved into a new $8.9 million, 20,000 square foot facility, the shelter reached “No-kill” status. That means at least 90% of the animals the shelter took in are saved and adopted out.
“Often, people hear about a community or shelter becoming “No-kill”, and they think its safe to bring my animal there,” said Jeanine Foucher, director of Acadiana Animal Aid. “What we want to ask the community to do is to say help us sustain this “No-kill” status by being part of the solution.”
The shelter has increased its save rate to 92%. In the past, approximately 2,800 pets were euthanized each year. Now, the shelter is projected to put down fewer than 300 dogs and cats this year.
Here’s what you can do to help, to avoid bringing pets back to the shelter:
-Spay/neuter your pets.
-Foster shelter pets while they’re waiting to be adopted
-Rehome your pet rather than surrender it to the shelter
-Attempt to reunite a lost pet with its owner.