[StBernard] Adoption a success for animal shelter

[Westley Annis]

Adoption a success for animal shelter
St. Bernard places 40 cats and dogs Tuesday, August 05, 2008By Mary Elise
DeCoursey
More than 40 St. Bernard shelter animals found homes last week, including 23
picked up at an adoption event held by the shelter Saturday. 

Saturday's emergency event was organized after the shelter became
overwhelmed with more than 100 animals, many of them puppies and kittens.
The shelter's capacity is about 40, and officials feared many animals would
have to be euthanized because of crowded conditions. 

Volunteer Christiane Biagi said a Web site she set up with photos of the
animals received almost 18,000 hits, and she and another volunteer received
more than 100 calls about adopting animals. The surge in adoptions has
alleviated the crowding, Landry said, which she attributes to several
litters of puppies and kittens that have been bought to the shelter in the
past few weeks. 

 
"It's paying off," Landry said. "It gives you a good feeling that yes, this
can be done and we can do it without having to euthanize." 

Many animals are still available for adoption at the shelter at 115
Agriculture Road in Chalmette. The shelter will hold another adoption event
Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the Harvey
Petco, 1629 West Bank Expressway. For information or to volunteer, call
504.278.1535. 

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Mary Elise DeCoursey can be reached at mdecoursey at timespicayune.com or
504.826.3362.