Animals end up in crowded cages.

Animals without a home are ending up in crowded cages. A local parish shelter says the overcrowding is putting helpless puppies at risk of infection and disease. Nbc 6 news reporter Karen Hopkins found action to improve conditions and what you can do to help.


This dog is too violent to share a cage. The majority of stray puppies live huddled together in one kennel. The Caddo parish animal shelter is about 20 years old. An outdated ventilation system leaves germs in the air, this puppy could breathe in helplessly. “It's our job to provide a voice for those who can't speak for themselves."

Director Matthew Pepper says while the shelter meets all state sanitation requirements, that's not good enough. Disease spreads easily through close contact, "hacking cough, running nose, discharge in eyes."

Giving each animal more space isn't an option. The Caddo parish animal shelter stays more than full-- at 200 percent capacity. “We have a capacity issue. We are looking seriously at. We will have to make decisions in the near future on how we will address that issue."

Caddo administrator Woody Wilson says the animal control budget has no money to expand.
May 1st. people can vote on a $25 million bond issue for parish wide improvements. If the bond is approved, the commission could dedicate money for a new shelter. “We are listening to what the community is saying. We have a lot of animal activists groups."

Pepper says the staff is doing everything to give these animals hope.
In the past two years, adoptions have increased 64 percent and euthanasia has dropped 15 percent.
"They are living creatures. We have an obligation to protect them."

Investing in a new shelter, Pepper says, will give more animals a chance at a healthy life and an opportunity to become someone's best friend.

Anyone can adopt a new animal friend. The shelter keeps on average, about 200 pets.
Nbc 6 looked into the costs of building a new shelter. The figure reaches the millions.
Desoto parish is building one for $3 million. Memphis, Tennessee is spending $9 million.

If adopting a pet is something you decide to do, there's a non-profit group that can help you spay and neuter your animal at a low cost. Robinson's Rescue in Shreveport wants to reduce or eliminate euthanasia. The group would like the parish to build a new animal shelter and have the rescue located next door. That way people could adopt and neuter in one location.