“Stop Cruelty to Cats” Campaign to Address Violence Directed Against Cats
METAIRIE, La. Alley Cat Allies, the global engine of change for cats, has provided $100,000 in funding and is teaming up with the Humane Society of Louisiana (HSLA) on a new joint initiative, “Stop Cruelty to Cats,” to address the crisis of cruelty against cats.
Each year, there is an increasing number of reports of extreme violence against cats from the entire state that go unprosecuted. Although aggravated cruelty is a felony offense, it is overlooked by law enforcement and the courts. Abusers are rarely ever charged or prosecuted.
HSLA will use the funding from Alley Cat Allies to expand its core animal crime fighting initiatives and to implement new programs. The multipronged initiative will include a broad-based No Cruelty to Cats Task Force, and build a coalition for new, statewide anti-cruelty initiatives.
“Violent acts toward cats are not isolated, and well-established research has identified the link between violence against cats and violence against humans,” said Becky Robinson, president and founder of Alley Cat Allies. “It is important to help law enforcement understand this connection. Most importantly, cats have intrinsic value they suffer and feel pain, and it is wrong to think otherwise.”
Robinson will join Jeff Dorson, executive director of the Humane Society of Louisiana, to announce the new campaign at a Westwego home where 14 cats were reported missing a few months ago. Despite efforts that were made to publicize their disappearance, none of the missing cats have been found, and no arrests have been made. Robert Sanders, the longtime caretaker of the animals, grieves their loss and worries that others that he cares for may face the same fate. (HSLA held an initial press conference in front of Mr. Sanders’ home at the time of disappearance.)
“It’s clear that these 14 cats, some of whom were elderly and in need of daily medications, did not simultaneously take up residence elsewhere, after many years at this location,” said Dorson. “Based on what we’ve uncovered, there is good reason to believe that there has been foul play, injury to the cats, or abandoned at another location, which is another criminal act.”
(Pictures of the cats from the HSLA investigation in Westwego are available upon request.)