Pass a good time with good friends for a good cause

Every day, a dedicated corps of volunteers assembles in North Baton Rouge to take on tasks many ardent animal lovers find unbearable: They enter East Baton Rouge Animal Control Center’s (EBRACC) kill shelter to exercise, engage and improve the lives of the animals there.

As a municipal agency, EBRACC is mandated to accept any animal found roaming the city, confiscated in the course of abuse and cruelty investigations or unwanted by their owners. Consequently, many of the nearly 400 animals—from cats and dogs to goats and roosters—confined to the overcrowded, loud facility are sick, wounded, aggressive or simply terrified.

For decades, the daily specter of euthanasia and the depressing environment deterred animal advocates from aiding the city’s most unfortunate animals—until 2009. That year, three, new, dynamic animal non-profits sprung into action, determined to provide immediate relief from the high euthanasia rate and abysmal conditions at the city pound.

While Project Purr and Yelp!BR now remove hundreds of cats, kittens, dogs and puppies from EBRACC and place them into adoption programs, Friends of the Animals focuses on the pets who remain in the shelter, awaiting reclamation by an owner, adoption, rescue or even euthanasia.

“We are there to make sure the dogs get correctly treated and walked,” says Friends’ founder Paula Schoen. “We work with the adoption dogs and the strays on a daily basis. We hold offsite adoption events for dogs and help people who come to the shelter looking to adopt a dog or cat.”

In the course of promoting humane treatment of shelter animals, Friends has made a number of improvements to the kennels including installation of ceiling fans, elevated dog beds with fleece covers; insulation in the open-air kennels and expensive grates for puppy kennels that keep tiny animals dry after kennel cleaning.

The organization’s latest and most ambitious campaign raised $20,000 to purchase a t-building for use as a veterinary clinic. The new building sports a larger, more efficient, surgical suite and recovery area housed in a quiet building away from the loud, stressful kennels.

Moreover, volunteers have provided temporary or long-term foster homes to a range of shelter animals. And, volunteers’ efforts at on- and off-site events have resulted in the adoption of 120 dogs.

Still since more than 8,000 animals come through EBRACC’s doors annually, Friends constantly seeks to attract more funds and folks to work with the animals. So, on June 21, Friends of the Animals is hosting its annual Summer Fundraiser from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Roux House on Third Street.

“We are interested in getting the word out about [our] organization to the community in a fun way,” explains Amy Burris, Friends’ fundraising committee co-chair.

The $15 cover charge at the adults-only venue includes happy hour drink specials, hors d’oeuvres and entertainment by Letters in Red. A silent auction features a 40-person excursion from Cajun Pride Swamp Tours, autographed LSU merchandise, artwork made by cats from Animal Control, a Mary Frances handmade cat purse, Deb Harvey artwork and four tickets to New Orleans Hornets/Dallas Mavericks game among others. In addition, Friends will raffle a Las Vegas vacation package that includes two-round trip tickets from Vision Airlines including and two-night accommodations.

For more information and advanced tickets, visit friendsoftheanimalsbr.org.

For sample of Friends’ adorable adoptable animals, click here.

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