Helter Shelter: Who’s responsible for Tangipahoa’s tragedy?

Pam Leavy hopes animal control supervisors across the nation take heed of the outrage that has erupted over last week’s euthanization of more than 170 animals at Tangipahoa Parish Animal Control. “There’s something really crooked going on here,” the Capital Area Animal Welfare Society volunteer maintains. “I’m glad it’s coming out and can be a model for animal control centers. It’s legal animal cruelty.”

The definitive diagnosis of the contagious illness that spurred the shelter’s decision, euthanasia procedures and many other details have yet to be revealed. “Was it necessary to kill everything or at all, including those who just came in? Why were some animals taken out, if they were contagious?” Leavy demands.

Leavy believes the spread of a treatable illness provided a convenient excuse to liquidate the entire facility. And she’s not alone. Allegations of cruelty, cover-up and mismanagement have reverberated from the shelter’s Hammond home through New Orleans and Baton Rouge’s animal rescues and prompted the Tangipahoa parish council to allow the Humane Society of the United States to assess its animal control operations.

“This should stay public,” Leavy insists. “Every shelter director is listening. They are going to think before they consider doing this again. There are lesson to be learned from this—any disaster we go through, look at Katrina. It’s unfortunate we sacrifice animals to learn some lessons.”

If nothing else, the Tangipahoa tragedy exposes the decisions and conditions small animal shelters face everyday.
Ascension Parish Animal Shelter office manager Carmen Loyd says the 6-year-old shelter’s staff has never had to make the determination of whether to terminate its entire population of 155 cats and dogs. “You get parvo outbreaks, but you contain it. Then, you notify the people who have adopted from the shelter and watch the animals that come in,” Loyd says. “I couldn’t even imagine being in that (Tangipahoa’s) position.”

Still, she admits the options for containing an outbreak are limited. “(If we suspected something), there would be an inspection of the stools, and we would watch the health of the other animals,” Loyd explains. “We would look for a rescue group to take the vet bill up (for treatment of the infected animals); euthanasia would be the other choice.”

In 15 years of operation, Walker Animal Control hasn’t been as lucky. A few years ago, parvo ravaged its kennel, which resulted in the euthanization of all 30 dogs; the cattery was not threatened. Before the kennel reopened, the staff completely revised intake and infection control policies.

Now, supervisor Reasea Coley says, “New intakes are monitored in a quarantine block for six to seven days and see if it’s OK for them to be put in the adoptable section. When they come in, we administer the 8-in-1 (vaccination) for dogs, the 4-in-1 for cats and deworming meds. It helps fight what they have.” And, for the first time in its history, Walker has now receives regular veterinary visits from LSU shelter medicine instructor Wendy Wolfson, DVM, and her students.

After 22 years of working at LA SPCA and other shelters, Wolfson is discouraged by the treatment of the Tangipahoa shelter from the press and the animal advocates. “We need to reserve a little judgment for the other side of the story,” she says. “The shelter did not make the decision alone. It supposedly consulted with two vets, which is what shelters are supposed to do.”

While she has no involvement with the case, Wolfson says, “It’s awful anytime you have to kill one (animal) much less 171. It’s not what you want to do, but it can happen. It’s unusual for dogs and cats to both be euthanized; but, I’ve been to a shelter where three-quarters of the dogs or the entire cat population was euthanized.”

Giardia, distemper, parvo, foodborne, waterborne, airborne viruses or environmental toxins can ravage a shelter almost overnight. Municipal, tax-funded shelters are mandated to accept all animals — not just the healthy ones — deposited by the public or picked up as strays. Even though animals may appear healthy upon arrival, they can incubate a virus, infect other animals and spaces, show symptoms and die within days. Very few large shelters can afford a full-time veterinarian; smaller shelters are lucky to have the funds to pay for a weekly vet visit.

While rare, euthanization of entire populations seems to be most likely if: 1) animals are suffering due to the condition from which they are unlikely to recover; 2) the disease — even if it is treatable — can be transmitted to humans; and/or 3) treatment is unavailable due to financial or practical concerns.

For example, Wolfson asks, “Can you imagine treating 30 to 40 (animals) at $400 a piece. Even if you had the funding, what vet would do that? No one — unless you have a gigantic isolation area.”

Veterinarians and shelters know the prevention of rampant, contagious diseases depends on a deworming and vaccination protocol, good diagnostic equipment, isolation for new intakes and animals that are sick and the ability to address health issues immediately through veterinary care. However, few can afford those precautions. Wolfson estimates most shelters are under-funded by more than 50% and have to absorb that cost either by fundraising or decreasing health care services.

“People don’t realize what they (shelters) are up against and what a good job they do,” Wolfson asserts. “People should commend shelters and until something like this happens people don’t pay attention. Everyone is quick to blame.

“What about the people who have given their animals to the shelter, breed animals, don’t put (identification) tags on their animals, don’t take their pets with them when they move? Shelters wouldn’t be in this position if people would take responsibility for their pets.”

Even without the outbreak, the outcome would not have changed for an estimated 140 of the 176 animals in the Tangipahoa shelter. In 2007, more than 5,600 of the 7,000 animals who entered Animal Control were euthanized. Too many pets. Too few responsible owners and homes. It doesn’t have to be that way. Effective spay/neuter legislation like laws enacted in Delaware can stem the tide of unwanted pets. And where is the public outcry over that?

Click here for this week’s Creature Feature.

Click here for this week’s Animal Bytes.

Besides her 20 years of experience as an editor and writer, Adrian E. Hirsch is a charter board member of Spay Baton Rouge, a nonprofit that spays/neuters feral cats and the pets of low-income residents to stem overpopulation; the Baton Rouge coordinator of Gulf South Golden Retriever Rescue, a nonprofit that rescues golden retrievers from shelters and owners, fosters and finds permanent homes for the dogs; and (along with her twin daughters) a member of Tiger HATS, an LSU Veterinary School service organization that offers animal-assisted therapy.