Defending animals since 1988
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Dear Paws Cause Member:
Happy holidays! We sincerely thank you for "playing Santa" to our animals all year long; as always, your generosity and commitment to Louisiana's abused, neglected and forgotten animals provide our organization with its core source of support. On a cheerful note, we really love it when our adopters send us photos of HSL animals enjoying the "good life" in their new homes; we thought you you'd like this cute holiday picture of one of our most recent adoptees, too. If only every animal could be as cozy and comfortable! With your help, we'll keep spreading good cheer and happiness to Louisiana's animals in 2009!
Winter Wonderland in Tylertown
The scene this month at our Tylertown facility looked like something out of a
holiday greeting card, when snow blanketed our compound for the very first time!
Our inexperienced Southern canines, like Roux pictured pictured above, didn't really know what to make of the cold, wet, white stuff. As far as our cats were concerned, they were content to ignore the wintry weather altogether and cuddle up indoors, especially when the tarp roof of our outdoor cat area collapsed temporarily, under the unlikely and unanticipated weight of snow.
Katie Elmo
The magical scene at the shelter made it a perfect time to reflect on our wishes and dreams for the future of the facility. As you know, we never planned to create a sanctuary in Tylertown--Katrina helped make that decision for us. We've come a very long way since the hurricane, though, and we've made significant progress. Just this year, we constructed new cat rooms at Tylertown, using the dismantled kitty condos from the former Happy Tails Adoption Center. We also installed a large new window in our feral cat area, added new dog housing and fencing, repainted and spruced up the interior of our main building, added a new commercial washing machine, and replaced an outer support wall, which had been destabilized since the hurricane, and more!
In the beginning, though, it was difficult to know how to move forward with plans for Tylertown after Katrina. So many of our key members and donors had moved away, and we were unsure if we would realistically even be able to keep our organization going. Every step of the way, the unanticipated and fluctuating costs of disaster relief were difficult to calculate, and while we held out hopes of getting major disaster recovery funding from a number of sources, many of those leads failed to materialize.
Along the way, however, despite the hardships, we've learned that the Tylertown shelter site really does function quite well for HSL in a number of ways. Just a few hours from New Orleans and even closer to the Northshore, it works perfectly as a peaceful rural recovery area for dogs with special needs who simply wouldn't thrive in a more urban environment. It's also been a great location for housing puppies prior to adoption transports and for providing ongoing sanctuary care to our hard-to-place Katrina animals. This year, we were able to use the shelter both as a Gustav pet evacuation center, and as the central staging ground for our subsequent disaster relief program, proving that we can continue to develop new programs at Tylertown and provide many important and lifesaving services for Louisiana and the metro New Orleans area.
Still, operating in exile from our hometown still has its disadvantages. For example, we particularly miss the hands-on support of our friends and members in the city, and it is difficult for us to reach out to new volunteers and supporters.
So, we plan to follow a dual track strategy in 2009. While putting down more permanent roots in Tylertown, we'll also lay the foundation for reestablishing our statewide headquarters in the metro New Orleans area. To help us achieve those goals, we are formally kicking of our Paws to Rebuild capital campaign, with an initial goal of raising $300,000 for needed improvements and additions at Tylertown this year. We plan to formally rename our Tylertown shelter the Tylertown Animal Care and Evacuation Center and utilize the funds raised for: making general improvements to the property, providing trailers for staff and volunteer housing, adding additional fencing and dog yards, and for creating a Katrina Kitty Village--a large enclosed outdoor cat housing area with a barn.
Once we get our Tylertown Center improved for our critters and their caretakers, we will move to Phase II of our exciting Paws to Rebuild campaign--reestablishing our programs and our presence in the greater New Orleans area. Our vision is to open a "Cruelty Investigation and Prevention Bureau" offering diverse cruelty investigation, prevention and education programs. We'll tell you more about our plans in next month's alert.
There will be plenty of opportunities to get involved with our Paws to Rebuild fundraising campaign, and we'd deeply appreciate your help. From attending fundraisers to joining committees, we'll need all hands on deck--particularly with the economic challenges ahead--to make our plans a reality. We're happy to say that our friends at the All Life Foundation recently contributed the first $10,000 for our capital campaign, and they have asked us to submit an additional grant later in 2009! |
The True Spirit of the Season
 If only more grown-ups were as selfless as Zachery, a young animal lover from Marrero, who recently celebrated his 5th birthday. After telling his Mom that he had "enough toys," Zachery decided he'd rather help the less fortunate than acquire any gifts for himself. He decided he wanted to help the animals at our Tylertown shelter, and he asked all of his friends to bring presents for the animals to his birthday party. The Western theme of the party was "A Visit to the General Store," and his friends brought in hundreds of pounds of pet
We are so very thankful to Zachery, and we are extraordinarily impressed by his generosity.
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From the Times Picayune, December 10, 2008:
"SELFLESS EFFORT': State Rep. Tony Ligi, R-Metairie, was already a favorite of the animal rights crowd. A lawyer, Ligi volunteered his professional services to the Humane Society of Louisiana, which says he also voted in favor of all pro-animal bills this year in the Legislature.
Now he's gone and rescued an injured cat.
The society's Executive Director, Jeff Dorson, said Ligi was driving back from Baton Rouge on December 1 when he saw a cat that had been hit by a vehicle on West Esplanade Avenue near Transcontinental Drive, "Ligi instinctively pulled over, got out of his car, picked up the traumatized cat, who was bleeding from her mouth and nose and placed her in the front seat of his car," Dorson said.
He took the cat to Southeast Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care in Metairie, which diagnosed a fractured jaw and several broken teeth. The cat was stabilized and sent the next day to Pet Care Center in Metairie, where the jaw was set, part of a tooth removed and the rescued feline was dubbed Noel.
Dorson said the society on Monday gave him its Good Samaritan Award "to honor the selfless efforts of Rep. Ligi."
It's also taking donations to pay for Noel's surgery: Donations may be delivered to Pet Care Center, 8601 Veterans Memorial Blvd, or mailed to the Humane Society of Louisiana, P.O. Box 740321, New Orleans, LA 70174.
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| Contact Us |
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P.O. Box 740321
New Orleans, Louisiana 70174
info@humanela.org
1-888-6-HUMANE
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On behalf of all the animals in our care,
thank you for your continuing support!
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