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BVSPCA heads south to help a shelter in need

Brandywine Valley SPCA
BVSPCA is embedding with the Tangipahoa Parish Services shelter in Hammond, Louisiana this year

The Brandywine Valley SPCA is partnering with an animal shelter in Louisiana for a year-long embed program.

 

 

The initiative is supported by Best Friends Animal Society. It’s goal is to develop programs, infrastructure, and long-term revenue sources to reach 90 percent lifesaving rates at TangipahoaParish Services in Hammond, Louisiana by the end of the year -- and sustain that level long-term.

The shelter has limited resources, low spay/neuter in the community, more animals than adopters, and it takes in more than 5,000 dogs and cats annually.

Linda Torelli with the Brandywine Valley SPCA says the first part of the program is already complete.

"We sent our shelter programs manager down there, he's got a lot of shelter management experience, and then two other folks to help with intake programs and to help with animal care of best practices," said Torelli. "So that's really the first step. They went down in late December."

She adds they’ve also helped complete their kennel building.

"They had a great shell of the building, but they ran out of funding to complete it. They were completing it in milestones as money allowed. Thanks to Best Friends and some support from us, we actually finished that building and added 76 kennels to the capacity of that shelter."

Credit Brandywine Valley SPCA
BVSPCA staff helped the Tangipahoa Parish Services shelter complete a project adding to the number of kennels it has.

On Sunday, the 90 dogs will be flown from Hammond to New Castle, and the ASPCA has paid for this to happen bi-weekly this year. 

Torelli says the transporting of animals is normal.

"Many shelters move animals from the south. I would say just about all of the shelters in our area are taking animals in from the south to help with the issues down there and also because we've got the space. But the key difference in this project is changing things long term. So the next phase in the  project is building a spay/neuter clinic on their campus.”

Other steps include implementing intake intervention programs to help families care for their pets, reuniting lost pets with owners, and building cat lifesaving programs. 

Joe brings over 20 years of experience in news and radio to Delaware Public Media and the All Things Considered host position. He joined DPM in November 2019 as a reporter and fill-in ATC host after six years as a reporter and anchor at commercial radio stations in New Castle and Sussex Counties.
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