Rehabilitation

December 22, 2005

Enter one of the tents at our new Thayer Street location and you’ll meet Ebony. Ebony is a 2-year-old pit bull mix with a fawn-colored face that emerges from her darker brown coat. Her light, brown eyes will draw you in, but she’ll probably look away if your stare is too direct. Likewise, too sudden a movement, or towering over her will cause her to cower in the back of her cage. Ebony is shy and fearful and uncomfortable at first meeting. But with care and special attention, she’ll warm to humans one delicate step at a time. Ebony Smoot, one of our animal care attendants, has taken to this shy, quiet pit bull – hence the name – and has learned that Ebony finds some comfort if you sit next to her cage with a chair turned sideways, and read or talk to her. With time, special attention, and a more intimate form of human interaction, this sweet pit bull we’ve named Ebony is finding her way out of a lonely, frightened shell.

Ebony is one of our animal residents finding shelter in our new Louisiana SPCA rehab tent. As we rebuild our infrastructure, one of the things that keep us motivated are the strides we make when it comes to caring for the animals we shelter, and the rehab tent is one of those strides.

There you’ll find dogs that we have identified as frightened or especially traumatized. In this specially designed tent, we provide them with a quiet environment and more human interaction. A shelter environment can be challenging for even the most confident of animals. With animals like Ebony our rehab tent is designed to create a space where quiet and peace are at an optimum level.

At this stage paid staff are working with the animals, as well as a select few volunteers who have completed our volunteer orientation process.  In time others will be trained to work with them as well. With the animals housed here we will write individual plans for each dog so he/she might be able to be transferred to one of our partner shelters for adoption or be included in the next LA/SPCA off-site adoption day.

The road to rebuilding our shelter is paved with daily challenges, but our rehab tent is the first of many creative programs we’ll continue to implement to provide the best shelter for Ebony and all the other animals entrusted in our care.