20 Reasons to Support the Humane Society of Louisiana

August 20, 2007

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---------- Forwarded message ----------jeff dorson <stopcruelty11Aug 18, 2007 1:40 PM

20 Reasons to Support the Humane Society of Louisianastopcruelty11Dear Friends:On this the second anniversary of Katrina, we are reaching out to people across the nation, asking for help with our efforts to rebuild our nonprofit humane organization. Since 1988, The Humane Society of Louisiana has been at the forefront of animal protection in Louisiana, but keeping our lifesaving programs for animals in operation after the hurricane has been our biggest challenge. While tens of millions of dollars were raised during the 2005 storm season, only a tiny fraction trickled down to our animal protection group, which stood close to the epicenter of our nation's greatest natural disaster. Before the hurricane, our group operated a private animal shelter for abused and abandoned animals in New Orleans, just fifteen minutes away from the Superdome. Katrina's high winds and rain destroyed our shelter and, despite our efforts, we have never received adequate funding to replace or rebuild what was lost. Since Katrina, we have operated an emergency shelter in nearby Tylertown, Mississippi, where we originally evacuated our animals to safety. In addition to HSL's other programs, this facility still houses more than 100 homeless animals at any given time, many of them were rescued during the immediate aftermath of the storm. Our group is worth helping and saving. With a staff of only a handful of people, we respond to problems in our community and across the state on a regular basis. Since we do not receive any federal, state, or city funding, we are dependent on the generosity of the public at large. Because New Orleans lost half of its population after Katrina, funds are difficult to raise locally. This presents a particular challenge for our organization, since donors in New Orleans previously helped fund our mission to aid animals in rural Louisiana, where there is little other support for animal protection. As part of our " Paws to Rebuild " campaign, and to help us meet our ongoing financial goals, we will be sending out an appeal each week for the next 20 weeks. Each will highlight some of the programs and services that we provide. We hope to raise $1,000 each week from these appeals. To help, you can send in a donation or forward this message to your list of friends or family and urge them to do the same. Below is the first of 20 reasons to give to the Humane Society of Louisiana. Reason #1: Our humane organization has lobbied effectively at the State Capitol since 1988. We have passed laws that make it a felony to own or breed fighting dogs. We made it a crime to attend a dog fight, and jut last year, we passed a law protecting ostriches, peacocks and other birds under the anti-cruelty statutes for the very first time. We also created a statewide program to aid the Louisiana Black Bear. Most recently, we successfully moved forward with our legislation to manufacture and sell Animal Friendly license plates through the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The proceeds from the sale of these plates will pay for low cost spay/neuter surgeries throughout Louisiana. Attached is a copy of our newly designed license plate. To support this and 19 of our other programs, please make your donation online today, at www.Humanela.org . You can also send your check or money order to the Humane Society of Louisiana at P.O. Box 740321, New Orleans, LA 740321. All donations are tax deductible. For more information, call 1-888-6-HUMANE or visit our website.