Governor Jeff Landry has officially declared April 30 as Louisiana Loves
Shelter Animals Day, highlighting the state’s growing commitment to saving the lives of dogs and cats in shelters
and becoming a no-kill* state.
This announcement aligns with newly released data from Best Friends Animal Society showing that nearly half of
Louisiana’s 70 animal shelters have already achieved or maintained no-kill status in 2024. According to the data,
77% of dogs and cats in Louisiana shelters were saved last year but in order to make Louisiana a no-kill state,
12,900 more pets need to be adopted. Of the 36 shelters that haven’t yet reached no-kill, 13 are fewer than 100
pets away from meeting the benchmark.
Bossier City Animal Control is proud to be part of this statewide lifesaving movement. As of today, BCAC has
been officially trending No-Kill for eight months! While it takes a full year to be officially recognized as No-Kill,
we are well on our way thanks to the support of our community, and especially that of our fosters, adopters,
volunteers, and staff.
“We are honored to support this proclamation and be part of a growing contingent of animal shelters and
rescue groups committed to ending the unnecessary killing of shelter pets in Louisiana,” said Susan Stanford,
Shelter Superintendent of BCAC. “Every adoption, foster, and volunteer hour gets us one step closer to an
official no-kill designation. This journey has been challenging but we are committed to achieving our goal of
being the first no-kill municipal shelter in northwest Louisiana.”
In 2024, Louisiana shelters made lifesaving progress through collaborative and proven programming including
expansion of adoption, foster, volunteer, community cat, managed intake program, and increased access to
veterinary care, all of which contributed to positive lifesaving momentum across the state.
“Governor Landry’s declaration significantly propels the no-kill movement, encouraging the community to
actively participate in helping to make Louisiana a no-kill state,” said Julie Castle, CEO of Best Friends Animal
Society. “We’re proud to work alongside our incredible network of animal shelters and rescue groups across
Louisiana who are driving this progress in their communities every day. We commend the Governor for leading
this lifesaving initiative to help safeguard the lives of Louisiana’s dogs and cats.”
Best Friends Animal Society encourages residents to adopt from local shelters or rescue groups instead of buying
from breeders or stores. Additionally, helping lost pets find their homes without entering a shelter—especially
since 70% of lost dogs are found within a mile of where they were lost—can dramatically reduce shelter intake
and stress.
Louisianans can support Bossier City Animal Control by:
- Fostering a pet in need. We have foster options from social fostering and shelter visits to weekend and
holiday fosters! - Volunteering time or resources
- Adopting a new friend!
- Spaying or neutering pets as well as ensuring pets are microchipped and have up-to-date ID tags
- Donating to support lifesaving programs such as TNR and rescue transports
- Following us on Social Media and sharing our posts!
- To view adoptable pets or to learn how to get involved with Bossier City Animal Control, visit us on Facebook at
Buddies of Bossier City Animal Control or on Instagram at Instagram.com/buddiesbcac. - For more information about Best Friends’ work in Louisiana or to view local shelter data, visit bestfriends.org
*No-kill is defined by a 90% save rate for animals entering a shelter and is a meaningful and common-sense
benchmark for measuring lifesaving progress. Typically, the number of pets who are suffering from irreparable
medical or behavioral issues that compromise their quality of life and prevent them from being rehomed is not
more than 10% of all dogs and cats entering shelters. For any community to be no-kill, all stakeholders in that
community must work together to achieve and sustain that common goal while prioritizing community safety
and good quality of life for pets as guiding no-kill principles. This means cooperation among animal shelters,
animal rescue groups, government agencies, community members and other stakeholders, all committed to
best practices and protocols.