Thursday, December 23, 2010

From Gambit - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2010

LA-SPCA reminds city of end of services

POSTED BY ALEX WOODWARD ON THU, DEC 23, 2010 AT 2:38 PM

The Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (LA/SPCA) announced this morning a reminder of the end of its services: Stray animals will no longer be accepted to its shelter beginning tomorrow, Dec. 24, and all other emergency services such as injured animal response or dangerous dog complaints end Dec. 31. The organization also said it is frustrated with the city's "lack of communication regarding the public health and safety of New Orleans" following the LA/SPCA's break from the city as its animal control provider. The LA/SPCA also says it has had little or no communication with the city, and recent offers of a transition plan for whomever assumes animal control services have gone unanswered.

On Dec. 15, Landrieu administration press secretary Ryan Berni said, "We remain confident that we will be able to execute a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement with another animal control provider in the region to secure these critical services for our residents. We are committed to providing good animal control services at a price the city can afford."

Rumors circulated last week that a newly created New Orleans chapter of the Human Society would front the city's animal control services for 2011, though the city and representatives from that organization have not confirmed.

"We implore the City to let the public know the plan for Animal Control,” said Ana Zorrilla, CEO of LA/SPCA, in today's statement. “We’ve already seen devastating consequences over the past three months because of the lack of funding provided by the city. The LA/SPCA can no longer cover the cost of caring for injured animals, picking up stray animals, and providing the standards of care necessary to humanely shelter the strays for their five day stray period. The LA/SPCA presented a transition plan in order to maintain care for the animals currently housed with us, as well as an offer to extend our current level of service through January 31, 2011 with no acknowledgment from City Administration.”

Visit www.la-spca.org/2011animalcontrol for more information.



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