Denham Springs Animal Shelter Louisiana

As, you most certainly already know Baton Rouge and surrounding parishes in Louisiana were devastated by flooding last week.  

My sister Patti, my niece Jenny and my nephew Forest all live in Baton Rouge with their families.  Thankfully, they and their homes are all safe and dry.  So many people lost everything, and a newspaper report said only 1 in 8 people in BR have flood insurance.  A state of emergency has been declared.

When Jenny told me about the flooding last Friday I immediately thought of the Denham Springs Animal Shelter.  This is where Louise called home for a year and a half before we adopted her, and the shelter is near and dear to our hearts.  Denham Springs Animal Shelter is the only no-kill municipal facility in the entire state.   If Louise had found her way into any other facility she would no doubt have been euthanized well before we found her.

This is our beautiful girl Louise (Louisiana Amelia Mae... because every girl should have a proper name!) on the day we picked her up!  She is truly the sweetest, kindest, gentlest dog in the world and we all love her so much.

This photo was also taken the day we adopted Louise.  The shelter was much larger than shown in the photo, but I loved how they had a pool set out as the heat index was over a hundred on the days we were in town to pick her up and visit with family.  The bare bones facility (think concrete, metal roofs, wire enclosures) was immaculately cared for; so clean and the dogs and cats in their care were obviously very loved and tended to.  Dan and I were so impressed with the shelter and all the people who worked there.  They were all so excited that Louise had finally found her forever home.  

Sweet Louise who lived outside for a  year and a half is terrified of thunder.  Breaks my heart that she had to endure the sometimes daily thunderstorms that occur in Baton Rouge.  

We discus ad nauseam how "when" :) we win the lottery we are going to build the shelter a "Louise Amelia Mae" enclosed and air conditioned building! 

This is the Denham Springs Animal Shelter this past Saturday, water is up to the roof. 

On the first day of rain the volunteers said the animals were all fine and dry on their Facebook post HERE, then the frantic call for anyone with a boat to come help them rescue the animals was posted. As the shelter became engulfed in rising flood waters the staff and volunteers fought to save as many animals as possibly could.  At the end they simply had to unlatch the kennel doors and let the dogs hopefully swim out and climb on a roof in hopes of being saved.  

This video from Beau Madison Rescue Network on Instagram shows the devastation at the shelter, and the dogs waiting on the roof to be rescued.  Heartbreaking.

HERE

The dogs that were rescued by boat were taken to a dry street and the neighbors that live there, who did not evacuate, were feeding the dogs. The dogs were allowed to run at large due to the inability of cars and trucks to get to the area.  Those dogs have since been rounded up and are safe, but they are still doing boat rescues to the shelter to look dogs.  The blonde dog in the left front of the photo is Tuff and was one of Louise's roommates when we adopted her.   The shelter's director is still stranded in Denham Springs in a vacant house filled with cats, awaiting rescue.  They are rounding up all their dogs in the flooded area, and know that they will be taking in new animals due to the devastation.

The shelter is desperately seeking temporary fosters for their dogs and cats and kittens. If  you, or anyone you know who loves animals lives in the Baton Rouge or New Orleans area please share this post.
To fill out a Denham Springs Shelter Foster Application HERE

To all my dog and cat loving readers (xxo)  I am in hopes that you might join me in donating to help this wonderful shelter that saved Louise for us!   No amount is too small, $5 would help.  

If you would like to donate please click

  HERE

All funds raised will go to the animal shelter towards recover and rebuilding efforts.  

The Petco Foundation has generously offered to match each dollar raised up to at $100,000.
The following is what Sue Cosby-Jennings, of the Petco Foundation, said about the Denham Springs Animal Shelter on Facebook...

Sue Cosby-Jennings

1 day ago

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From the Petco Foundation-- The Petco Foundation joins community efforts to help Denham Springs Animal Shelter flood recovery with matching grant: Even before the flooding, the Denham Springs Animal Shelter in Louisiana had very limited resources. But that never stopped this small organization and its dedicated team from operating the community's animal control shelter and doing everything they could to save animal lives. They are all heart! So it is heartbreaking to imagine what they must be going through during this tragedy. We understand that efforts are ongoing to raise support for the Denham Springs Animal Shelter in their time of need. To encourage this support, the Petco Foundation will match all amounts received by the Denham Animal Shelter during this time up to at least $50,000 in support of the flood recovery and rebuild efforts.

To donate via "go fund me" HERE

To send a check, mail to:
Denham Springs Animal Control
Attn:  RACHEL
600 Bowman Street #C
Denham Springs, LA  70726

To follow the shelter Facebook  HERE  - please share!

To donate to the Red Cross for the people of Louisiana devastated by the flooding  HERE

To read the story from a year ago about adopting Louise and Magnolia HERE