LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / August 12, 2000

For Lee Ann Matherne, animal control supervisor for the St. Charles ParishAnimal Shelter, the job is easy.

“It’s my dream come true!” she says.

However, as in most jobs, there are obstacles to overcome, not the least of which is public awareness.

For an animal shelter which has been in the same location for nearly 20 years, it amazes Matherne that most people have trouble finding it. It’slocated directly beneath the Luling side of the Hale Boggs Bridge, on the levee side of River Road across from the West Bridge Park.

Animal control has a long history in St. Charles Parish, as Parish PresidentAlbert Laque recalled. When Laque was a police juror in 1965 Barry Robertswas hired as the parish’s first dog catcher. The first dog pound was locatedat Cleveland “Sonny” Perrer’s house in Paradis.

As the population grew, both in people and animals, the need for a real animal shelter became evident, and this shelter was opened during Parish President Kevin Friloux’s first term in office in the early 1980s.

Funded out of the parish’s general fund, the $250,000 used for payroll, operations and maintenance is supplemented by the efforts of the St.

Charles Humane Society.

Not coincidentally, the society was founded in 1993 by Matherne. Whileworking for a veterinarian she saw 80 percent of the pets newly adopted from the shelter had to be put down because they were in such poor condition. This prompted her to get involved in upgrading animal care in St.Charles Parish.

“For years, the St. Charles Humane Society and the animal control peoplewere butting heads,” she recalled. “It was a dumping ground, but we just keptbanging heads and persistence paid off.”The dilemma was solved last month with Matherne’s hiring as the shelter supervisor. “It’s nice to be working together,” she added, crediting Laque forbeing open-minded enough to make this work.

Laque, pleased with what he sees there, commented, “People are surprised when they come here and see the operation.”The Humane Society was established through the efforts of a core group including Matherne, veterinarian Dr. Jack Moreau, then-school SuperintendentDr. Thomas Tocco and former parish Councilman Max Nassar and KimberlyHalpin. Presently, Nassar’s wife, Donna, is the society’s president.The down side of her job is changing the attitudes of local residents regarding responsible pet ownership, especially toward neutering and spaying.

However, the bull-headedness which got her through raising her children, involved as a parent volunteer throughout, continues to carry her through her present job.

One of her biggest crusades is for educating people on spaying and neutering, with many residents not willing to properly take care of their own pets or even adopt a sterilized pet.

Another crusade is to bring the fee schedule up to date. Presently adoptionsare $30, where the society picks up the costs for sterilization. “We save theparish $15 per adoption when we don’t have to put it down.” For aveterinarian to sterilize an animal, the most common price is $65. Plans areto soon raise the parish’s pet adoption fee to $60. “Nothing leaves hereunless it’s sterilized,” Matherne said.

Matherne has done much, first through the society and now in her present job, to take adoptions on the road.

Adoptions of St. Charles Parish animals are done, besides at the shelter, atFran’s Pet Store in Luling, Bayou Pets in Destrehan, PetsMart in Elmwood, the St. Charles Parish Business Association Expo, Barnes & Noble in Metairieand the St. Charles Rotary Club’s Alligator Festival.”We put down 1,700 to 1,800 animals last year, but the adoption rate has gone up,” she noted, adding plans are to begin using digital photos of pets available for adoption to be screen on the parish access channel on Cox Cable.

People also have many misconceptions about the role of the parish animal shelter, Matherne said, using it as a cheap boarding service or involving it in disputes between neighbors. In addition, the shelter really is not in theservice of accepting donations of puppies and kittens.

She’s also concerned about the highly-illegal practice of dog-fighting competitions, but locating such activity in the parish is extremely difficult.

Nevertheless, Matherne finds much to enjoy in her job, especially working with the animals themselves.

“They are so grateful, and they love you unconditionally. And when we getthem adopted, that’s the best thing,” she said.

The animal shelter is open weekdays, 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and the societyholds adoptions every Saturday from noon to 3 p.m.

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