NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Results of the 2023 Louisiana legislative session have left the Humane Society of Louisiana (HSLA) without funding for public animal shelters.
HSLA brought their concerns to lawmakers in March with a report published by the State Legislative Auditor’s Office, urging for funds to be allocated to building new animal shelters and renovating existing ones.
They hoped a small portion of the state’s surplus could be used to fund public animal shelters that can’t afford to stay open.
The funding would have gone toward two facilities serving in rural parishes like Avoyelles, Bienville, Evangeline, Catahoula, E. Feliciana, Franklin, Livingston, St. Helena, St. James, Caldwell, Red River, and Union.
“In the last minutes of the session, somebody excised, somebody deleted that amendment to an appropriations bill. We walked out empty handed and we’re all very very disappointed,” says HSLA Director Jeff Dorson.
Dorson says most of the existing shelters are in such a state of disaster they’re forced to close leaving vulnerable animals without services.
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