Jeff Davis: Owner claims family pet’s fatal shooting could have been prevented; Parish lacks animal control

A Jeff Davis Parish woman says her dog was shot and killed two months ago after it had gotten away from their yard.
She wanted to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation.

“She had been shot several different places. It was with a shotgun. Her liver, her colon, her chest,” she said. “And there was a bunch of internal bleeding.”
She says this is something she never imagined would have happened to her pet.

“She was our house dog. We got her when she was 7 weeks old. You know, for seven years she was one of us and she was taken away by something that could have been prevented.”

She said the tragedy could have been prevented is the parish has animal control.

 “If he would’ve called and they would’ve come  and picked my dogs up because they were, you know, running loose, yes, you know. I’d still have my dog. It would help. It would definitely help.”

“According to the Jeff Davis Parish Sheriff’s Office website, it is the municipality within the parish in charge of their own animal control. But if you live outside the city limits, there is none,” the resident said.

Jeff Davis Parish Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Chris Ivey said sometimes deputies will get calls about dogs running loose. “In the past, we’ve had some instances where we’ve been able to take a dog that’s cooperative and will come to the deputies when they’re called,” said Ivery. “We transport them over to Welsh animal control.”

But because the sheriff’s office doesn’t have an animal control department and the deputies aren’t equipped to handle every animal. So, he says, sometimes there’s nothing they can do.

You can find a list of phone numbers to animal control in each municipality in Jeff Davis Parish, here.