Photograph: Margie Randall Says She Needs Help with providing transportation for spaying and neutering cats. (Photograph by Bobby Ardoin.)
BOBBY ARDOIN
Editor/Contributing Writer
Margie Randall has devoted much of her life in different locations, to curbing dog and cat overpopulation, a concern that she now feels is becoming more difficult to manage.
Randall only recently has begun asking St. Landry Parish and Opelousas elected officials for transportation assistance in order to help relieve the burden placed on her personal vehicle which she says has started wearing down.
“I’m not asking for any money. I’m managing, even though I’ve been paying expenses out of my own pocket. I’m looking for a van or something that I can use to help bring cats to get spayed or neutered,” Randall said last week after she spoke on the issue during a Parish Council meeting.
The Council took no action on her request.
Randall estimates that her van currently has an odometer reading of about 230,000 miles.
The van required for pet population reduction, Randall says, is the same one she uses for work.
“It’s old. Sometimes I’ll make five trips a week to Lafayette in the van after I trap feral caps and bring them to veterinarians in Lafayette and then pick them up,” Randall said..
Randall says she still has a handful of vouchers that were issued by the parish through a partnership with the Catherine Bissell Pet Foundation several months ago, which provide reduced costs for animal spaying and neutering at several parish veterinarian clinics.
Even with that help Randall says, some pet owners find they still cannot afford the copay that accompanies the lower costs associated with the vouchers.
Pet Populations Out Of Control
Randall also told the Parish Council that she’s noticed there is an abundance of stray dogs in Opelousas, a situation, she pointed out, that potentially is dangerous both to humans and cats.
Dogs roaming loose are not only sometimes attacking walkers in Opelousas, but they are also killing cats and kittens, Randall said.
Randall emphasized to the Council that the proliferating stray cat community in Opelousas and elsewhere in the parish has become increasingly difficult to manage.
Her voicemail is full of messages from persons indicating that they need help with spaying stray cats, but she can’t always respond due to her limited transportation situation, Randall pointed out.
Randall said during an interview that she has met already with parish president Jessie Bellard and Opelousas Mayor Julius Alsandor. Both men, Randall noted, have been made aware of her problem.
“I’ve been asked all the time to come out and set traps for the cats. I don’t mind doing this. I could do it all day long, but I need some help, especially since I use my own transportation,” Randall added.
