ST. TAMMANY PARISH – On Monday, St. Tammany Parish President Mike Cooper announced exciting news about events taking place during the month of August and beyond for the St. Tammany Parish Animal Shelter.
The shelter gratefully welcomes as a partner Mardi Paws, the super krewe for k9s. Together they will host several initiatives to increase adoptions, expand education, and raise awareness about the shelter.
The kick-off to this partnership is the joint participation in Clear the Shelters 2020, a nation-wide, month-long fee-waived “Adopt and Donate” effort which started Saturday, August 1, 2020.
Mardi Paws will lend a paw to this event by giving away a free backpack of Summer Lovin’ swag to everyone who adopts a cat or dog from the shelter during the month of August.
“We are very excited about Clear the Shelters 2020. The expansion of the event to the entire month of August will undoubtedly help many of our animals who need homes. In addition, this event will truly highlight our relationship with Mardi Paws as they work so closely with us to feature the work of our committed shelter employees and to partner with us in finding homes for these animals,” Cooper Said. “Our shelter accepts every animal brought in, and we work every day to place adoptable animals in loving forever homes. This is an opportunity for citizens to help us find homes for these animals. With adoption fees waived for the month of August, we hope to surpass our monthly adoption records.”
Mardi Paws has donated over 70 crates to Support the recent Wings of Rescue Transport flights, and is currently raising money to fund a fall 2020 flight for St. Tammany and Tangipahoa Parish Shelters. Over 100 animals —including cats and dogs — from the St. Tammany Parish Animal Shelter, on four separate Wings of Rescue flights, have been rehomed in 2020.
“Mardi Paws is all about pups and we’re excited to partner with our St. Tammany Parish open admissions Animal Shelter this summer. They take in thousands of abandoned, surrendered and stray animals each year, they can’t possibly re-home all of these animals without the community’s help,” said Denise Gutnisky, Founder Mardi Paws. “We know this partnership will mean positive outcomes for the animals, and hopefully raise awareness about how the community can make a difference, and this is what we hope to achieve.”
This year’s Clear the Shelters event will be virtual. Anyone wishing to adopt can make an appointment with Animal Services by calling 985-809-0183.
This year, GreaterGood.org is joining with Clear the Shelters to raise money for shelters around the country.
To support the St. Tammany Parish Department of Animal Services, follow this link. Money raised for the St. Tammany Parish Animal Shelter will fund costs such as crates for pups for rescue transports; foster supplies such as: crates, bottles, puppy/kitten milk replacer and heating pads; toys; treats; and cat hideaway boxes, to name a few.
The Summer Lovin’ Swag backpack from Mardi Paws includes: Summer Lovin’ T-shirt, three free days of camp + bath for dogs at Camp Bow Wow, Covington, MedVet Leading Specialty Healthcare for Pets pop-up water bowl, Tito’s Vodka for Dog People Bandana, and a Bag of Marsh Dog treats.
To learn more about Clear the Shelters 2020 and see adoptable pets, visit www.cleartheshelters.com.
Also, look for these ongoing and upcoming events with Mardi Paws:
- Mutts to the Rescue— www.MuttsToTheRescue.com
- #LendAPaw — donate supplies, or become a sponsor
- Bark Week — a Barky & Sharky spoof of the The Discovery Channel’s ever-popular Shark Week to promote shelter adoptions — www.barkweek.org
- Wings of Rescue donation campaign to raise money for a St. Tammany Parish/Tangipahoa Parish Transport
To date, in 2020, over 451 animals were rehomed through compassionate, credible rescue group partnerships and 432 animals have been adopted directly from the Animal Shelter. All animals who leave the shelter for adoption have a complete checkup, are spayed or neutered, microchipped, and vaccinated. The Department of Animal Services is open by appointment for anyone wishing to adopt and animal, or foster an animal to adoption. Call (985) 809-0183 to make an appointment, and visit, www.stpgov.org/pets to view animals available for adoption.
Adoption hours at the Animal Services Shelter are Monday through Saturday from 10AM to 12PM and 1PM to 4PM.