JEFFERSON PARISH, La. — According to the ASPCA, roughly 6.3 million animals enter US shelters every year, and about half of them are dogs.
On Tuesday, WWL Louisiana got to meet Timmy, a seven-year-old rescue worker at JSPCA called a sweet old man.
“He’s got a lot of energy,” said Rebecca Bourgeois of JP Parks and Rec. “When he hits the ground, he’s ready to go.”
Since January, Timmy has lived at the shelter inside of the Jefferson Feed Store.
“He was a shelter surrender,” she said. “So, someone dropped him off.”
Bourgeois says Timmy’s story is like a lot of pets in the greater New Orleans area. Pets at shelters like the Animal Rescue of New Orleans had no place to call home and no one to love them forever.
“They deserve a good home; they deserve someone to come home to,” said Bourgeois.
Shelters in Jefferson Parish are reaching capacity and are in critical need of families to adopt these animals.
It’s why Parks and Recreation plans to host its first-ever “Best Rescue in Show” competition.
“We're working with five local organizations and rescues that are going to bring their contestants to us to show in categories like best ears, best senior dog, and best special needs dog,” said Bourgeois.
Winners in each category will take home a title ribbon. The hope is that someone in the audience will fall in love with these rescues and bring them home.
“We have so many of them due to breeders,” she said. “All of our shelters are full right now so it's so important to display these certified pre-owned animals and let them know that they are just as good as anybody else.”
The dog show is Saturday, April 13th, at 10 a.m. at the Jefferson Playground Gym. Tickets are $10 a person and can be purchased online at JPRD.com.