By KERI CHAMPION

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE-St. John the Baptist Parish Animal Shelter is one of four Louisiana shelters that will receive a new vehicle that will help ease the burden of transporting rescue animals. The new animal control truck being donated is a 2007 Chevy 2500 extended cab and is valued at $16,795.

All the trucks will have temperature gauges inside the cab to monitor the temperature of the animal housing area and will be equipped with pro safety features. The extended cab will house an animal capture system so shelter workers can monitor the animals in the holding area.

Linda Allen, director of the animal shelter said she received an application for a grant from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) for the truck and filled it out. The money for the vehicle came from funds that were left over from money raised after Hurricane Katrina.

&#8220We are so happy to be getting this donation since we worked so hard after Katrina to get animals out safely,” she said.

During the time of the storm and for months after, the St. John Shelter was on call 24/7 to take in animals from people fleeing the storm who had no way to bring their animals with them.

&#8220To get a new animal control truck is wonderful; we have never had a brand-new truck before. The parish purchased three trucks for us a couple of years ago and we used the parts of the three trucks to build two good ones, but one was in an accident,” she said.

Currently, the shelter has only one animal control vehicle.

&#8220 A lot of times the animal control officers have to use their own vehicles to pick up animals since we have two officers, but only one vehicle,” Allen said.

The timing couldn’t be better for the St. John shelter. In the face of problems finding a new site to build and opposition to expanding the present facility, the shelter welcomed the news of the new truck.

Other shelters to receive an animal control vehicle are Ascension Parish Animal Shelter, Lafayette Parish Animal Shelter and PAWS of Plaquemines parish.

&#8220The donation of each vehicle was based on desired specifications of each parish and their need for reliable animal transport alternatives in the face of continuing efforts to rebuild and service their communities in the wake of Hurricane Katrina,”said Laura Lanza, the Southern Region director of SPCA.

&#8220The grant was a joint fund provided by The HSUS and the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (LSPCA)” Lanza said.

Deerskin Animal Control worked cooperatively with the LSPCA and HSUS to donate the trucks to the four shelters.

&#8220The vehicles were custom made for the animal shelters to fit the specific needs of animal transport,” Lanza said.

St. John will receive delivery of their truck today between 1:30 and 2:30 pm.