Paws Cause Alert

Animal lovers in the Greater New Orleans area were shocked and saddened by the widely publicized case of aggravated cruelty involving two kittens. Witnesses saw the animals being thrown from a speeding van on the Causeway. Incredibly, one of the animals was rescued, but the other poor kitty was never found. The subsequent public outcry and widespread media coverage of this outrage moved an anonymous donor to contact HSL and pledge a $10,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator. The Humane Society of Louisiana widely publicized the reward fund and immediately got some promising leads in the case. Click here to read a NOLA.com article.

Unfortunately, however, we have been unable to definitively identify and track down this perpetrator. There's always an outside chance that someone with information will come forward to claim such a significant reward, and we will keep doing all we can to keep the issue of animal abuse in the news to publicize our state's tough penalties against this crime.

Bela (left) and Amos are recent rescues that are resting happily at our
Dixieland Center while they wait for new homes.

INVESTIGATORS MAKING AN IMPACT FOR NEGLECTED ANIMALS

While a heartbreaking cruelty case like the kittens being thrown onto the Causeway can sometimes grab the headlines, it is the less widely publicized but nevertheless important cases that are part of the daily routine for our growing team of volunteer investigators. Working with our Executive Director, Jeff Dorson, a licensed private investigator, our trained crew responds to about a dozen cases of neglect and cruelty in the Greater New Orleans area each week. Many of these cases involve neglected dogs suffering in plain view. While filing charges is always an option, the first goal is to educate people about appropriate animal care and to enlist them in improving the animal's quality of life. Our dedicated workers are thorough, making repeat visits to the scene on their own time, to see that changes are made. The good news is that this kind of case management often makes a difference in the attitudes of the human caretakers, which greatly impacts the lives of the animals in need. In some cases, we also step in and offer to take custody of animals in distress, without filing formal charges. This was the case recently with a neglected Jack Russell terrier. He had spent most of his life tied out on a front porch, barking and desperate for attention. With your support, we'll keep working hard to shine a media spotlight on issues of cruelty, while working quietly behind the scenes to make a difference for individual creatures in distress.