Alley Cat Allies not a ‘purrr-fect’ match with Police Jury

The Vermilion Parish Police Jury said thanks but no thanks to the Alley Cat Allies’ request to help the Vermilion Parish Animal Shelter.
According to a press release, Alley Cat Allies reached out to the Vermilion Parish Police Jury with an offer of collaboration to implement lifesaving, effective programs to help the Parish’s shelter cats.
The organization, at no cost to the taxpayers, planned to:
• install new cat and dog kennels, fans, bedding, toys, and other supplies at the shelter
• spay and neuter and other necessary veterinary services for animals at the clinic.
• training for shelter personnel on the best and latest shelter operation practices.
• on the ground assistance with implementing these initiatives for the first seven weeks.
• work with the police jury to temporarily suspend or substantially reduce the intake of animals at the shelter while the above initiatives are being implemented.
At Wednesday night’s Police Jury meeting, the jurors heard from Debbie Garrot, who helps run the animal shelter between Abbeville and Kaplan. Garrot gave her two cents on Alley Cats Allies, a national organization that protects and improves the lives of cats and kittens.
Based on what she read and heard about Alley Cat Allies on the internet and Facebook, Garrot convinced the jurors to reject Alley Cat Allies’ offer of help at the Parish’s shelter.
She did recommend the cat organization could provide free spay and neutering clinics in the Parish.
According to a press release, Alley Cat Allies Program Director Alice Burton wrote to the Police Jury in January, outlining multiple areas of collaboration and support that Alley Cat Allies is offering to Vermilion Parish.
“We know from our experience in the state that every parish in Louisiana can enact our humane programs,” Burton said. “Louisiana citizens are supportive of and grateful for compassionate and effective approaches to the cats who share their communities.”
The press release states, “In return for assistance, Alley Cat Allies is asking that the shelter and Vermilion Parish adopt best practices for shelters, as recommended by the Association of Shelter Veterinarians and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Burton further offered to Jurors in her letter that Alley Cat Allies would assist in bringing shelter operations in line with nationally recognized best practices.”
The Police Jury said at the meeting on Wednesday that no outside organization is telling the policy jury how to operate its shelter.
Alley Cat Allies did send a Lafayette lawyer to Wednesday’s Police Jury meeting. He spoke to the jurors for a few minutes.
In the press release, Burton explained in her letter that Alley Cat Allies has been active in Louisiana for decades, helping parishes improve their policies and programs for cats, launching a statewide animal cruelty prevention initiative, and providing supplies, food and resources in the wake of hurricanes and the pandemic.
The potential initiatives outlined in the letter to the Police Jury are the extent of what Alley Cat Allies is offering at this time, and Burton and the organization continue to seek dialogue with Police Jurors on these issues, the press release states.