The St. Tammany Parish Animal Shelter has issued what it calls a “Mayday” for people to come rescue dogs in the overcrowded facility.
Officials say they have exceeded 215 dogs in the shelter, which was designed to hold 120.
"Following a wave of owners dropping off their pets and abandoned animals found within the community, the shelter is now 70% over capacity for canines," according to a news release.
In an attempt to save the animals' lives, adoption fees for dogs in the shelter for longer than six months have been waived.
“Adoptions [at the shelter] have been severely limited, rescue pulls have almost all but stopped, and yet animals continue to pour into our shelter for a variety of reasons in need of our help,” said Animal Services Director Rob Bremer. “We are at a critical point and must reduce the amount of animals in our system – as dog fights, disease spread, and other factors can affect the quality of life of the dogs in our wards. Our animals are our top priority and we will not keep them in inhumane conditions, but the numbers are against us.”
He says they are encouraging the community to consider adopting.
The release says that all shelter animals come fully vetted – up to date on all vaccinations, spayed or neutered, and microchipped.
“We reserve the ‘mayday’ call to our community only for these circumstances, and this should not be taken lightly. We have worked so hard to become a no-kill shelter – but we can only do that with our partner’s and community’s help and support. We want to make space by fostering and adoption, not euthanasia.”
St. Tammany Animal Shelter is located at 31078 Highway 36 in Lacombe and can be reached via email at STPASprograms@sttammany.gov or by phone at 985-871-4513. It is a high intake, open admission shelter for St. Tammany Parish residents. Adoption hours are Monday-Saturday 10AM-4PM, appointments preferred but not needed. All available animals can be viewed on our website www.sttammany.gov/pets or www.24petconnect.com/STPAdoptablePets.
