During the recent mass exodus of people who fled prior to the planned Hurricane Ida last month, Louisiana state police received calls from motorists alerting them that animals were being released on the I-10 West side toward Lake Charles. A driver saw a matted dog near the ramp towards the town of Duhon and rescued the dog before it could run away. The driver asked another couple to take him to see the director of the Humane Society of West Louisiana, 85-year-old Rita Bingham. Bingham accepted custody of the dog and soon found that he was blind and had difficulty hearing. A subsequent health check revealed that the dog also had advanced heartworm disease. Bingham named the dog “JR”, treated his heartworm disease and decided to keep him as her pet as he probably didn’t have many years left. JR is not the only pet likely to have been left on the land during or after Hurricane Ida, however. Bingham and her grandson Matthew Blout took about three dozen dogs, cats and kittens along a stretch of I-10 towards Lake Charles in the days leading up to Ida’s landfall. The Humane Society of West Louisiana cares for and provides medical care to them, and they are adopted to suitable owners, even after Hurricane Ida hits the thousands. To raise awareness of JR’s plight and the widespread problems they have uncovered and documented, the Humane Society of West Louisiana is offering a $ 1,000 reward for information that identifies the previous owner (s) of JR. Hints and tips can be provided to the Humane Society of Louisiana at 1-888-6-HUMANE or by email at info@humanela.org. “We want JR’s story to illustrate and depict how we should never treat a pet. The owner who may have dropped JR on the side of the interstate or allowed him to leave, and the hundreds of others who purposely left their pets behind We want you to know that these animals have all suffered trauma, fear, or in some cases died and deserved so much better, “said Jeff Dorson, director of the Humane Society of Louisiana.
LAKE CHARLES, La. –
During the recent mass exodus of people who fled prior to the planned Hurricane Ida last month, Louisiana state police received calls from motorists alerting them that animals were being released on the I-10 West side toward Lake Charles.
A driver saw a matted dog near the ramp towards the town of Duhon and rescued the dog before it could run away. The driver asked another couple to take him to see the director of the Humane Society of West Louisiana, 85-year-old Rita Bingham.
Bingham accepted custody of the dog and soon found that he was blind and had difficulty hearing.
A subsequent health check revealed that the dog also had advanced heartworm disease.
humane society of louisiana
JR was abandoned by its owner during Hurricane Ida.
Bingham named the dog “JR”, treated his heartworm disease, and decided to keep him as a pet, as he is unlikely to have many more years.
However, JR is not the only pet likely to have been left on land during or after Hurricane Ida hit.
Bingham and her grandson Matthew Blout took about three dozen dogs, cats and kittens along a stretch of I-10 towards Lake Charles in the days leading up to Ida’s landfall.
The Humane Society of West Louisiana is caring for and medically providing them, and they are being adopted to suitable owners.
However, the New Orleans-based Humane Society of Louisiana said the number of pets and farm animals to fend for themselves after Hurricane Ida runs into the thousands.
To raise awareness of JR’s plight and the widespread problems they have uncovered and documented, the Humane Society of West Louisiana is offering a $ 1,000 reward for information that identifies the previous owner (s) of JR.
Hints and tips can be provided to the Humane Society of Louisiana at 1-888-6-HUMANE or by email at info@humanela.org.
“We want JR’s story to illustrate and depict how we should never treat a pet. The owner who may have dropped JR on the side of the interstate or allowed him to leave, and the hundreds of others who purposely left their pets behind We want you to know that these animals have all suffered trauma, fear, or in some cases died and deserved so much better, “said Jeff Dorson, director of the Humane Society of Louisiana.
