As an animal rescue volunteer, Ashleigh McHugh has seen her share of strays in need of homes and heartbreaking instances of cruelty.
McHugh told the Zachary City Council Aug. 27 that these issues are far too prevalent, straining the limited resources of local animal welfare groups.
“Zachary is contributing to a parishwide and statewide animal problem,” said McHugh, the city’s economic development director. “Right now, it is beyond the capacity of animal control and shelters to manage.”
The Companion Animal Alliance shelter in Baton Rouge takes in a staggering 140 animals every five days, McHugh said. Other organizations are overwhelmed, too.
McHugh identified four key issues she and her fellow volunteers are encountering in Zachary:
- Tethering. “Many dogs in Zachary spend their lives chained up, unfortunately, enduring weather conditions, even the recent heat we’ve had,” McHugh said.
- Breeding. “Females are bred in Zachary repeatedly, and then, unfortunately, sometimes they are discarded when they can’t produce a profit,” she said.
- Dumping. “We do experience dogs that are dumped, often out of vehicles, just left in remote areas to kind of fend for themselves,” she said.
- Strays. “This is what we see most often,” she said.
As for how residents can help, McHugh urged them to think about adopting and fostering, donating to rescue organizations and shelters, and advocating for animals.
She also encouraged elected officials to enact and enforce ordinances protecting animals.
“Other communities have put some measures in place like moratoriums on breeding, requiring that you register your pets with the city, limiting the number of breeding permits that are actually given out and also limiting the time that an animal can be tethered outdoors. … We feel it’s time for Zachary to take some similar steps to protect our dogs, punishing the human rather than the dog for negligence and mistreatment,” McHugh said.
After McHugh’s presentation, Mayor David McDavid took the opportunity to ask that people not post “lost dog” fliers.
“We would ask not to put them on stop signs or speed limit signs,” he said. “Use the social media forums to get this information out to everybody. A lot of this stuff falls onto the ground and becomes litter and we have to pick it up or take it off the signs to keep the signs from being blocked.”
