PRESS RELEASE

Shelter Closing; Animals are Being Moved as Katrina Approaches

NEW ORLEANS (8/27/05) – The LA/SPCA will be closing at 5pm today and plans to reopen on Tuesday, weather permitting. The shelter only evacuates for Category 3 or higher hurricanes.

Twenty-five dogs that are being held pending court cases are on their way to Baton Rouge Animal Control to ride out Hurricane Katrina. Approximately 250 animals, strays and adoptables, will be moved to the Houston SPCA this evening in two 16’ climate-controlled trucks. Moving large number of animals is labor and time intensive and requires tremendous planning. The animals will return to Japonica Street on Tuesday, weather and building permitting. (Note: Japonica Street shelter floods extremely easily and may not be ready for inhabitants immediately following the storm.)

The LA/SPCA recommends that all animals be evacuated should the family decide to leave the city. Be sure your pet is properly fitted with a collar and identification tags. Also take along a photo of you and your pet in the event you become separated. Familiar pet toys and food will help keep your pet calm when in unfamiliar territory. Please remember that Red Cross shelters do not accept pets and the SPCA does not board animals under any circumstances.

Pets cannot survive if left to fend for themselves or tied to a stationary object. Those people who choose to abandon their pets will be charged with cruelty to animals.

All trapping of animals like raccoons, stray cats, and the like should be discontinued until the storm passes.


The Louisiana SPCA, a private non-profit organization chartered for the state of Louisiana in 1888, is dedicated to ending animal cruelty, eliminating animal overpopulation, providing quality low-cost veterinary care, and promoting the human and animal bond.

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