Transcripts
Welcome back to Animal Posse.
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Today, we are gonna be discussing
a heartbreaking story out of
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Walker, Louisiana, where a local
rescue became the site of an
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unimaginable animal cruelty tragedy.
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Authorities recently discovered nearly 40
cats and kittens trapped inside without
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food or water in temperatures here in
Louisiana are soaring near 100 degrees.
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Tragically, many of these cats
lost their lives, but thanks to
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swift intervention, many others
were rescued from severe distress.
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So joining us today is Jonathan from
Rescue Alliance, the organization that
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stepped in on the ground to help rescue
and care for their surviving babies.
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Jonathan, thank you so much
for the critical work you
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do and for joining us today.
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It's not really the conversation that
I wanna have, but it's a very important
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conversation so that everybody's aware
of, first off, what rescues do, and
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then also to look for, red flags.
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There was a very heartbreaking story
the other day, and you were involved in
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this, and it was an animal cruelty case.
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I don't even know if you
would call it a hoarding case.
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It was out of Livingston Parish, and
you were one of the rescuers there to
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help out and take some of the kittens.
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Can you walk us through that, like how
you became involved with it and what
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it looked like when you got there?
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Jonathan: We got contacted by the Humane
Society of Louisiana becau- to go out and
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coordinate with the actual animal cruelty
investigator for Livingston Parish.
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When we arrived on the scene at the
person's house we were escorted into
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the garage whereas the garage was
closed, had no air conditioning.
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It had one box fan with a water heater.
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There was one adult cat and 11 kittens
all in a garage that had no airflow
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Dixie: that's insane.
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And the weather that we have here,
it's, we're close to 100 degrees,
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so I can't even imagine how hot
it would've been in that garage.
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Jonathan: At the time when w- when I was
there, it was 11:40 on Wednesday morning.
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The actual outside field temperature
with the heat index was 103.
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So on average, when, with a 103
temperature inside of a garage, you're
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looking at about 125 to 130 degrees
inside the garage, which I was in there
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for 20 minutes, and in 20 minutes I
basically, I was, I'd almost sweated all,
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all the little fluids that I had out.
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So you can only imagine that by having
this ca- these cats in the garage with
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no proper airflow, they can't regulate
their temperature the way we can.
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And that's the reason why, even one
of the 12 that we pulled, we ended up
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losing because by the time, within two
hours, its body started shutting down.
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That's so- So we ended up having-
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Dixie: That's so sad.
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Jonathan: Yeah.
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We ended up having to humanely
euthanize, which to tell you about,
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we don't euthanize talk about since
2019 when we started, this was our
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second cat to be euthanized since 2019.
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Dixie: It's something that
you don't- consider lightly.
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You only do it when it's
absolutely necessary.
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That's horrible.
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Jonathan: When we took, when
by the time we got the kitten
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to the vet, his diagnosis with
the baby was already comatose.
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Dixie: Oh my God.
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Jonathan: It faded from, it was alive
and alert when we picked up the cat,
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but its organs were already failing.
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But, s- 'cause we were literally,
we picked up the cats at
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11:40 and by 1:30 it was gone.
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Dixie: That's terrible.
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And how old were the kittens?
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Jonathan: This kitten that
ended up passing away was
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probably about six weeks old.
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The average we had, the one adult
was probably about two years old.
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The majority of the rest of the
cats and kittens was about f-
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between six weeks and four months
that was actually in her garage.
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And, as anybody who knows anything
about cats do not regulate their,
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or especially kittens, they don't
regulate their temperature properly.
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They don't regulate their temperature,
therefore that's why when you've
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got kittens without a mom, we
have to put 'em on heating pads
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So the fact that they were in a garage
without air, it, they were dehydrated.
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The majority of them had ringworm
upper respiratory infections.
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It's just intense.
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Dixie: Yeah.
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I can't even imagine that.
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And were they all in
one cage or were they in
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Jonathan: separate ones?
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They were free-roaming inside the
garage, so that's one thing that we can
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say is yes, they were not in the cages.
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But at the same time, a garage is
not a place for any animal to be kept
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because it doesn't have proper airflow
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Dixie: Wow.
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It's unimaginable.
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I just can't even understand that.
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Like I know for me personally, I
worry always about hurricanes or
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power outages I don't worry about
myself, I'm worried about the cats.
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Which is why we have a,
whole house generator.
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I got that to make sure if we ever
did lose power and we had to stay
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for a storm or something like that,
that the cats wouldn't have to be
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hot because I can go move somewhere
and not be hot, but the cats can't.
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Jonathan: Yeah.
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And the b- the biggest key to
even with the hurricane situation,
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if you lose power, you open
windows, you let air flow through.
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Whereas they were in a garage,
the garage door was closed.
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There's a gas water heater in there,
which is also producing heat, and the
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field temperature outside was 103 degrees.
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So it was all things that, are
dangerous when it comes to cats.
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Whenever you have an animal rescue,
especially a cat rescue, y- you have
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to take into account all the details.
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You ha- you need to educate
before you go and start a rescue.
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Find out what's your pro- what's
the proper protocols, safety
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measures that you can put in place.
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It's all the things that, we
always recommend if you're gonna
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consider even opening a rescue,
go volunteer at a shelter.
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See what their protocols are,
what their, what they do, how
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they handle the s- the situation.
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And the other thing is, if you do
have an animal rescue, you have to
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know what your boundaries and what
your limits are, because overwhelming
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yourself at the same time is just as
bad Because you can't properly care
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for the ones that are in your custody.
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And as an animal rescue, we take
the responsibility of all the
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cats and kittens in our care.
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Dixie: Yeah.
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Jonathan: Ab- absolutely.
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When rescues have to actually take
dogs you're responsible for those dogs.
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That is a life that is dependent upon
you, because cats dying in your care is
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not something that should be happening.
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It happens on certain, on rare situations.
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But when you're locking, 40 cats in one
building and 17 of them are deceased, and
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then they go into the person's house and
there's 12 cats and kittens in the garage,
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in both places it was over a hun- it was
triple-digit weather inside the buildings.
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We have to, we have to hold to the
standards that is healthy for them.
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Dixie: Yeah.
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And I think that's something,, that the
public doesn't realize, too, when they're
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approaching a rescue to ask for help.
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They think that a rescue can just take in
whatever they have, and it's not the case.
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'Cause like you said, you get to that
point where you know you're, , at
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a limit and you have to say, "Okay,
we cannot take any more in right
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now 'cause we don't have room."
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And it's not that we don't wanna take them
in and don't wanna help them, it's just,
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you have limited resources to work with.
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Jonathan: It's limited resources.
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Per so many cats and kittens, you
have to have one volunteer for each.
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And our ratio with everything that we do
is six cats and kittens per volunteer.
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That's the ratio that we try to
average out because at our rescue
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we believe that it's not just
cleaning, it's not just feeding.
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You have to have time to love on them
and show these cats and kittens love
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because, that's a part of being rescued.
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We're getting them ready to
go to their forever homes.
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So if w- if you're overwhelming
yourself, that's less time that you
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can individually work with the rescue.
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Dixie: You said you got
these cats out of the garage.
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Were there two locations
that these cats were kept?
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Jonathan: Yes.
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She actually had a storefront
location which is where the 40 was.
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When they made entry into that
storefront location, there was a
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total of 40 cats and kittens there.
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There were 17 dead.
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At that point, they went to her
house, and that's where they
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found the 12 in the garage.
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I
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, Dixie: It's just so hard
to wrap your head around.
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, Not only that you're doing something like
this, but that you have two locations and
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it happened in two separate locations.
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It's just unimaginable.
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I'm at a loss for words.
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It's just horrible.
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Jonathan: It is.
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In, in rescue we have, we do not let
our rescue facility go above 78 degrees.
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And, that's for someone's house, I,
my house stays at about 67 degrees.
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But, as, as far as the rescue, we try
to keep them at a nice comfortable 78
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degrees just because we don't want them
too cold because we have metal cages.
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We have the stainless steel
cages which tend to get colder
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the lower the temperature goes.
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So we regulate everything based
upon temperature, humidity.
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There's a whole lot involved
in doing rescue besides just,
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putting cats up for adoption.
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Since this whole, since we did remove
these cats and kittens, they've
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been having to receive IV fluids.
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They've been, having to get Nutri-Cal,
which is a high-calorie supplement.
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There's a lot that we have to
do just because their bodies
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are battered because of heat
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Dixie: Yeah, that's what I was
gonna actually ask you too.
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How did that work as far as you
taking the ones that you took and
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you have to go get them all to
the vet to basically be triaged?
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Obviously they would need fluids.
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But just the exams in general to see
what was going on with them, to see,
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how long they've been without food,
how long they've been without water.
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So what was that like?
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Jonathan: It was expensive because,
we're, we, when we actually had to
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go and we had to order antibiotics.
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We had to-- They needed intra-fungal
because majority of them have ringworms.
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We had, we've had to bathe them
and just in two days they've had to
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be, they've received multiple baths
because they were soiled in urine.
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And taking them all to the vet,
of course the exam alone, you're
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we're looking at almost $50 per cat.
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But on top of that, you've got the
Lactated Ringers to rehydrate them.
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But, on average, you're looking to spend
anywhere between $400 and $1,000 per cat
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Dixie: Are they still at the vet right
now or are they at your facility?
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Jonathan: No, they're actually
at our rescue center right now.
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We actually, we did have a, we had a
very good crew of volunteers come today.
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They all received IV fluids.
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They all got another bath.
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They're eating like they
haven't eaten in 10 years.
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But they're receiving the best
treatment and care possible
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Dixie: And how is their temperament?
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Jonathan: Oh, they're lovable.
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They want love.
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They're, they're playful.
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They're a lot more playful now
than they were two days ago.
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They're eating more than a normal
cat would, but at the same time, we
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did not know when the last time they
actually had a good quality meal
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even the reports of with the cats
that were picked up from the strip
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mall location, which was the 40,
they had food and water there, but
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the cats did not have access to it.
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So we don't know when their last meal was
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Dixie: That's just so crazy to me.
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Like I said, I just I'm
at a loss for words.
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I really am.
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The fact that they would be there
and there was food and water
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there, but they had no access
to it, and then in that heat.
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Jonathan: And that's what
makes it very dangerous.
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At Rescue Alliance, our cats, their
cages are cleaned every morning.
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They get fresh food and water, and
multiple times throughout the day,
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we go through and we check to make
sure that they didn't eat all their
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food, they didn't drink all their
water, they didn't spill their water.
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This happens between two and five
times a day just to make sure that
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they have all the nutrients they need
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So having an animal rescue for one,
people think that, oh, an animal
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rescuer collecting all this money.
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A true reputable animal rescue does
not really make that much money
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because we're s- we're busy spending
all of it on the cats in our care.
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We buy food, we buy blankets, we
buy snacks we- or treats for them.
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Everything that we do goes towards
bettering them to find their forever home
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So , anybody who wants to start an animal
rescue they, the first thing that they,
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that we want them to know is don't go
into it thinking you're gonna make money.
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Dixie: Yeah, and that's like
something that gets me right there.
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The whole mindset behind how
this happened, was it because
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of like , a money motivation?
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Was there this idea that you could
be making money or was it just it
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started out as good and then they just
didn't know what to do essentially?
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It's just, insane.
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Jonathan: Unfortunately, that's one of
the things that we won't know for now.
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It's still too early on
in the investigation.
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But, for the biggest part I would say
that she probably got overwhelmed.
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Which, which in animal rescue,
becoming overwhelmed and not having
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the proper assistance, it can,
you can get overwhelmed very fast.
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Saying no is one of the hardest things,
but even at Rescue Alliance, like for
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instance, right now we have over 50
animal surrender pending applications.
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But I cannot say, "Oh we'll go ahead
and we'll take them," because then we
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become just as bad as the other person.
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And we want to give the cats in
our care the best care, the best
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attention, the most love possible,
because what we do will determine
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the outcome of their adoption
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Dixie: Yeah and back to what you were
saying too, like when you have to say no.
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This is a very heartbreaking thing
for me because I saw a photo the
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other day of the before of one of
the kittens and then the after.
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And it was a post I
was actually tagged in.
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Somebody was asking me if
I could take the kitten.
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I was not in the position to
take the kitten 'cause I was
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getting ready to go out of town.
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And for that reason, I had to say no.
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And I remember seeing it was a little
five-week-old black and white kitten.
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I'm not 100% sure if it's the
same one, but the person who is
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accused of doing all this is the
one that ended up with the kitten.
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And I believe it is now one of
the kittens that was in one of the
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primary photos that you can see
online on social media right now.
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And it's absolutely heartbreaking.
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It is absolutely heartbreaking to
know that I was tagged in that post
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and I couldn't take that kitten.
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You know-
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Jonathan: It makes us, as far as the
reputable animal rescues, it makes
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us feel bad because some of these
cats came from shelters that reached
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out to us to help them because they
were overcrowded or they needed help.
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And now that this happened, it makes
us feel bad because it's maybe we
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should've just went and take it.
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It starts making us question
why we didn't take them.
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Dixie: Absolutely.
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Jonathan: But at the same time, we don't
wanna take something that we can't handle.
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And our rescue on average h- houses
between 60 and 100 cats, depending on the
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amount of fosters we have at the time.
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So we operate, a big network.
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We we've done about 150 adoptions
alone just since July 1st.
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So we get cats in, we get them homes,
but for every five cats that get adopted,
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we probably get calls for over 40
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And we do, we get cussed out, we
get talked we have people go off
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on us y'all are a cat rescue,
you should just take them."
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But we can't.
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We can't take every single one
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As much as we want to, we can't
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Dixie: Yeah, and it's goes back to another
thing too, like when people are on social
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media asking people to take cats, I know
a lot of the times there's times where
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people will just wanna give it to the
first person that says, "I'll take it,"
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you don't know anything about that person.
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At least go do your
research, do your homework.
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And it goes the same too if
somebody says that they're a rescue.
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Just ask them do you have any references?
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Can I call your vet?
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Do you have any photos?"
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Or just at least something to prove
that the cat is gonna be going to a
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place that's gonna be acceptable and
where they're gonna be treated well.
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Jonathan: And one of the other things that
I'll say also is a lot of times they s-
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they, if the person, if the finder of the
cat can even do a little bit of legwork,
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let's say you find a mom and a litter or
just you find a kitten, call in- instead
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of just trying to first surrender, see
if, "Hey if I was to foster this cat,
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can y'all help me find a home for it?"
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Or, "If I take the cat to go get
vetted, will that help get the cat
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into y'all's program a lot faster?"
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Because the answer is yes.
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We-- There, there's an amazing
resource, Dog People of Livingston.
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They're amazing.
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It's a low-cost spay/neuter.
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It's $60, you get them fixed,
vaccinated, and microchipped.
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Resources like that are available,
and a lot of times when the finder ta-
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can do the legwork and say, take them
to the appointment, get them fixed
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and and say, "Hey, I got it done.
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Here's the paperwork."
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We're able to work it into our program
because then we don't have to try
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to say, "Okay we got to go in and
get some appointments scheduled.
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We got to get them…"
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We're able to focus on finding
other ones homes, which allows us
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to make room to take that baby in
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Dixie: Yes I'm big on fostering in place.
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That's what I always try to tell
people, when they call me up.
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If you can foster in place, it's gonna
work out a lot better for everybody.
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Jonathan: And utilize the resources
of low-cost spay/neutering.
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Work with the rescues and, a, a lot of
times, or more so if you're fostering
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them in place and you're able to help, get
one, maybe two, or the whole litter, then
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from there, once they're ready to go, you
can even be a part of seeing them find
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their forever home at an adoption event
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'Cause you could bring your vol- your
fosters to an adoption event and volunteer
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at the adoption event with that animal
rescue, and you get to see the loving
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home that baby who you've cared for gets
to go and gets all the love in the world.
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Volunteering to help animal rescues,
animal shelters, it's what makes the life
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of cats, dogs, ferrets, whatever you're
looking at, wh- whatever kind of rescue
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it is, it makes them healthier and happier
because they got the love they needed
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Dixie: I know you said that the Humane
Society of Louisiana was involved.
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Do you know who the other
rescues are that were assisting
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with the cats that were found?
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Jonathan: I do know that the
Denham Springs Animal Shelter is
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playing a big intricate role in it.
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One of the kittens that w- that we did
take actually happened to come from Onyx
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Animal Rescue, and they put it back in…
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they took the one baby back
into their foster program.
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And there's just a bunch
of other volunteers who are
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stepping up to really help
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Dixie: Before we end the call,
do you have any final message?
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And can you tell people
how they can donate to you?
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'Cause like you said, you had to provide
all this intensive care to these kittens,
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and that's just the beginning of it.
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So how can people donate to you?
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Jonathan: They can go to our
website, animalrecovery.org,
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and click the Donate tab.
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That has our Chewy list, our
Amazon list, and all the ways
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that they monetarily can donate.
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They can also mail stuff or drop it
off to our rescue center, which is at
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12478 Highway 44 in Gonzales, Louisiana.
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And as far as one last thing I wanna say
is if we all can work together, whether
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you're finding a cat or a dog or any
of those, the more we work together,
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the more lives we can save together
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Dixie: That's a great closing
message, and I agree with that 100%.
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Thank you so much for coming on.
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I know it was a difficult thing
to talk about, but it's something
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that we definitely need to get
out there to raise awareness.
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Jonathan: I do agree.
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And, If we can all come together,
we can make an impact on the
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pet overpopulation in Louisiana.
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Dixie: Absolutely.
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Thank you for joining me today, Jonathan.
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Jonathan: Thank you for having me.
