Today and tomorrow, we are meeting with representatives from The Baton Rouge Area Foundation, which is developing a plan to end the euthanization of healthy and treatable dogs and cats at East Baton Rouge Parish Animal Control (which currently kills roughly 9,000, or 85% of the dogs and cats who enter the shelter).
The Foundation’s project manager, Patricia Calfee, and other representatives are in Austin, meeting with APA! volunteers at adoption sites around Austin to see how they are managed. The group will also visit the APA! Bottle Baby Trailer on South Congress and has plans to visit Town Lake Animal Center.
To support the no-kill effort in Baton Rouge, Commercial Properties Realty Trust, a supporting organization of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, officially launched Yelp! this week. Yelp! is dedicated to assisting in the adoption of the animals at East Baton Rouge Parish Animal Control. The group is planning its first in a series of weekly adoption events at the end of this month and is coming to learn as much as possible from Austin Pets Alive!
“Like Austin, Baton Rouge is an ever-changing city that is putting down far too many dogs and cats. But Austin Pets Alive! has made a quick and substantial impact on the euthanasia rate. We want to show people that we can change the way we manage our animals and save lives,” Calfee said.
Dr. Ellen Jefferson, president of Austin Pets Alive! and a local veterinarian, will meet with the Baton Rouge team to discuss the origins of Austin Pets Alive! and the organization’s rapid growth, which has led to more than 2,560 lives saved since we re-activated in June 2008.
“We are humbled to learn that our hard work is reaching and inspiring people outside of Austin to do more in their communities to stop the needless killing of companion pets,” said Dr. Jefferson. “We look forward to passing along our best practices and to hearing about their future success as The Foundation works to make Baton Rouge a no-kill city.”
