Humane Society renews complaint against Marksville dog pound

Although the City of Marksville has taken steps to address complaints about their “holding shelter” for stray and abused dogs, it is apparently not enough to satisfy a statewide animal rights organization.

Jeff Dorson, executive director of the New Orleans-based Humane Society of Louisiana (HSL), said the group is conducting an audit of the Marksville shelter. HSL has presented a public records request to Mayor John Lemoine to review the city’s policies and protocols for operating the shelter.

The shelter came under fire last year when HSL posted photos on social media showing the conditions at the shelter. Dorson noted the shelter was a row of damaged cages, most of which should have been replaced or repaired. Large holes in the kennels were covered with discarded street signs.

Local concerned citizens sent the Humane Society undated photos of dogs that had been euthanized or died at the shelter and were piled in a pit, he said.

Lemoine has said very few dogs have been euthanized in recent years, except those who are too ill or injured to be adopted. He said prior to creating the holding shelter, every dog that was picked up was euthanized. That approach to controlling the problem of stray dogs in the city was costly and, in his opinion, cruel to the animals.

The main reason for establishing the shelter was to save money and to save dogs’ lives, he said.

The mayor said the purpose of the dog pound is to have a place to securely hold strays and animals city police rescue from abuse situations. It is not intended to be a full-service animal shelter, he said. The city cannot afford such a program.

The alternative to this shelter is to have no program to address the issue of stray dogs.

When HSL’s complaints prompted an inquiry from state officials, Lemoine ordered the shelter to be closed last October.

After some remedial work was done at the shelter, the city got an all-clear from the state Agriculture Department -- which is responsible for animal control programs -- and reopened the shelter earlier this year.

Lemoine said the Ag official said the city is in compliance with state law and is “doing the best we can with the resources we have to work with.”

Dorson complains the dogs are being held “in similar unsafe conditions” to those found in October.

City Streets Superintendent Cloyd Clayton, whose department also oversees the collection and sheltering of the dogs, said the dog pound is much better than it was.

There are no longer cages patched with traffic signs. The kennels have heat for the winter, air conditioning for the summer and a system for washing waste away from the kennels to a treatment facility.

Clayton also said the city euthanizes very few dogs and seeks to adopt the dogs in the shelter.

HSL wants to review the city’s public records and record-keeping procedures to ensure the municipality is in compliance with state laws setting standards for animal shelters (R.S. 3:2467).

Dorson said he emailed the request on April 3 and faxed it on April 10. The organization has also sent its request by certified letter.

He said that as of April 11, the city had not responded to the request.

One issue Dorson said he needed to clarify was whether the public is still able to view and adopt the dogs at the shelter. He said HSL has received complaints from individuals who said they were denied access to the shelter.

“We are very concerned that the Marksville Animal Shelter may be denying access to citizens and withholding records that are subject to review under the Louisiana Public Records Act,” Dorson said. “We are also equally concerned that the dogs housed at this facility may not be provided with the best of care.”

Clayton said he has had to tell a few people they could not go in the shelter if there is not a city employee on site to accompany them, but always told them to come back when there is someone to help them. When there is an employee on site, they will show the interested pet-owner the dogs in the shelter.

Clayton said the city has no interest in keeping the dogs any longer than necessary, and adoption of every dog is the goal. Dogs that are not adopted after a lengthy stay are sent to a “no-kill” shelter.

Dorson said he hopes Marksville has or will improve the conditions to bring the shelter into full compliance with state laws.

Dorson said he would like to see the city “work with concerned citizens, rescue organizations, and humane agencies to ensure the best outcome for its sheltered dogs.”

The Humane Society of Louisiana is one of the largest animal protection organizations in the state and operates the Enoch J. Donaldson Animal Sanctuary in Mt. Hermon.
For more information on the organization, please visit its website at www.humanela.org or its Facebook page.