Lafayette one step closer to 'no kill' animal shelter with new cat policy

Lafayette is moving a step closer to operating a no-kill animal shelter with lower adoption fees and a new policy that allows for trapping, neutering and returning cats back into the community.

The Lafayette City-Parish Council adopted changes to its animal control ordinance Tuesday that follow recommendations by Target Zero, a national non-profit group that's helping Lafayette move to no-kill status.

RELATED: LCG, Target Zero launch no kill initiative

Mayor-President Joel Robideaux has made no-kill status by 2020 one of his top priorities.

As many as 4,000 animals were being euthanized every year at Lafayette Animal Control.

"It's a big step," Robideaux said after the changes were adopted Tuesday. "This ordinance is going to be what allows us to get to no kill status."

One of the big changes is a community cat diversion policy, where free-roaming or community cats are trapped, neutered, vaccinated, ear-tipped and returned to the location where they were trapped.

Council Chairman Kenneth Boudreaux asked what happens when a resident wants a stray cat removed from around his house.

"Cat prints on the Cadillac or Mercedes Benz. Digging up flower beds," he said. "If I bring an animal in and don’t want it back at my house ..."

The ordinance includes a provision for nuisance animals, said Robert Benoit, confidential assistant to the mayor-president. But at least the first time, he said, the cat will be spayed or neutered, vaccinated, ear tipped and released to the same neighborhood.

Based on experience, Benoit said, once a cat is spayed or neutered, its behavior improves. Fewer than 1 out of 100 spayed/neutered cats are returned because of behavioral problems, he said.

"I’m saying it’s a nuisance when someone acts," Boudreaux said. "That first time they go get that cage wasn’t their first interaction. When they get to that point I’m saying it’s a nuisance."

Currently, if someone traps a cat and brings it in it's euthanized, Benoit said. If a resident traps a cat and has the option of refusing the cat's return to the neighborhood, Lafayette will end up in the same place it is now.

Feral cats cannot be adopted and most cat colonies reject newcomers, so relocation isn't an option. They have to be euthanized, he said.

Waco, Texas, adopted a similar no-kill program. In 2012, before the trap, neuter, return policy, Waco euthanized 2,200 cats, Robideaux said. In one year, that dropped to 990 euthanizations and within three years they were at no-kill status, he said.

Also under the revised ordinance adopted Tuesday:

Adoption fees will be capped at $35. It presently costs $100 to adopt a dog and $80 to adopt a cat, except when specials are held.

Veterans and the elderly may adopt animals for free.

The name of the shelter will be changed to the Lafayette Animal Care Center.

The hold time for stray dogs is changed to seven days, consistent with state law, and the hold time for stray cats is reduced to three days.

Rescue groups will be allowed to rescue and hold animals during the stray hold period.

Owners requesting euthanasia of pets will have to pay $75 and allow the center to rescue or adopt the animal.

The changes apply in the city of Lafayette and unincorporated parts of the parish. It will take 60-90 days to start the trap, neuter, return program, Benoit said.

In a July 21 Facebook post, Robideaux wrote that, working with Acadiana Animal Aid and other rescue groups, the shelter has increased rescue numbers. New policies allowed for more rescues than previously.

In his first year in office, January 2016-2017, Robideaux said dog rescues increased by 134 percent, cat rescues increased by 1,766 percent, cat and dog adoptions increased by 60 percent, dog euthanizations decreased by 47 percent and cat euthanizations decreased by 52 percent.

A new animal shelter is part of the plan, with $6.2 million budgeted, Robideaux said. Although a preliminary design has been completed, the shelter plan is on hold as the trap, neuter, return initiative is implemented, he said, to make sure the design for the new shelter optimizes the needs.

READ MORE: Tax rededication frees money for drainage

In July, Robideaux unveiled a plan to ask voters to rededicate part of an existing tax for public health, mosquito control and animal control. If voters approve the measure in November, some of the tax revenue would be redirected to drainage and a culture, arts and entertainment initiatives.

Robideaux said the tax rededication proposal will not take money away from the new shelter.