01/08/2022
Update from the Humane Society of Louisiana
Dear Friends,
Today, we are officially kicking off our Help Our Homeless Pets campaign by contacting each Livingston parish council member and Layton Ricks, the parish president. As part of our campaign, we are identifying some of the issues associated with the pet overpopulation crisis in Livingston parish and asking that they increase its annual animal control budget by more than $100,000.
Currently, the small animal control department receives $300,000 a year and only responds to bite cases, aggressive dog calls, and cruelty cases referred to them by the sheriff's department.
The additional funds would allow the shelter to pay for medical care, additional supplies, and another part-time or full-time employee. To support our efforts, please email or call each council member and the parish president. Here is a link to their contact information: https://www.livingstonparishcouncil.com/council/page/our-parish-council-members
The contact information for Parish President Links can be found here: https://www.livingstonparishla.gov/government/page/livingston-parish-president-layton-ricks
Here is a copy of the email we sent to each councilmember -
Councilmember Ard,
I hope you are doing well. I am the director of the Humane Society of Louisiana, a position I've held since 1988. Since that time, we have fielded thousands upon thousands of calls for assistance from Livingston parish. The calls range from asking us to pick up stray animals, to reporting animals being abused, to seeking assistance during our recent natural disasters. We obviously can't respond to every call, but we still manage to stay very active in your parish - providing as many services as we can, at a cost of thousands of dollars to us each year.
Livingston, if you weren't aware, is listed as a parish that provides very few resources to combat your ever growing pet overpopulation problems. A quick look on any of the social media sites devoted to helping homeless pets in Livingston Parish, such as this one:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/lostpetslivingston and you'll see page after page and countless posts of people dealing with pet overpopulation issues.
With an annual budget of only $300,000 for animal services, Livingston Parish spends less than .35 per person, providing these essential programs. By comparison, municipalities spend much more per capita than your parish. Here are three are listed in a recent Louisiana Legislative Auditor's report on this subject: (see page 14)
City of Walker annual budget $267,200 per capita spending: $42.7
City of Sulphur annual budget $362,560 per capita spending: $18.00
City of Ruston annual budget $282,484 per capita spending: $12.9
You can read Louisiana Legislative Auditor's full report here:https://app.lla.state.la.us/PublicReports.nsf/0/7807E37FE4407C46862586CC005666CC/$FILE/0002371FB.pdf or its summary
https://app.lla.state.la.us/PublicReports.nsf/0/7807E37FE4407C46862586CC005666CC/$FILE/summary0002371FB.pdf
After speaking with your shelter employees, it's clear that they are in desperate need of additional funding for veterinary care, additional supplies, and an additional part-time or full-time employee. For that reason, we are requesting that your council (police jury) increase the animal sheltering budget by $100,000 during the next budget cycle. These funds would ease the burden of your community and parish workers faced with a daily uphill battle to contain your growing pet overpopulation problem.
If any of you are interested in speaking more to us about this issue or spearheading this budget request, please contact me at this email or call the number below. I look forward to working with your council and administration on addressing these important issues.
Sincerely yours,
Jeff Dorson
Executive Director
