Louisiana

Pets as prizes: Community upset about parish fair prize

Published

2 hours ago

October 17, 2024

Pets as prizes: Community upset about parish fair prize

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – The Humane Society of Louisiana, along with many others, are outraged after rabbits and other animals were given out as prizes at a parish fair.

“We really want to have our state be considerate and compassionate to animals and not have them be this discarded, throwaway trinket,” Executive Director of the Humane Society of Louisiana Jeff Dorson said.

Dorson says since the start of the Livingston Parish Fair, he’s been getting reports of pets being given out as prizes.

The Humane Society of Louisiana, along with many others, are outraged after rabbits and other animals were given out as prizes at a parish fair.(WAFB)

“We also had reports that kids were absolutely abusing rabbits at the fair itself. They were throwing it like a football. Tell me what rabbit would enjoy that in a loud, scary environment surrounded by all these foreign noises and lights,” Dorson said.

Dorson says veterinarians tell him animals they treat from fairs are often malnourished and injured. He says most families are not prepared for the time and expense that goes into caring for them.

“They require a lot of time, energy, and resources. You just don’t throw it in your backyard. So you need an exercise pin, bedding, water bottle, maybe a heat lamp, bedding, and it has to be vaccinated by a veterinarian so you’re looking at that. Your eight-year-old daughter brings home a rabbit and says hey Mom and Dad, now what. And the novelty quickly wears off. Who at 9 o’clock at a Friday night has all of that when you come home with these animals?” Dorson said.

Dorson says the Humane Society spoke with the fair board a few years ago and thought they agreed to stop, but he says nothing has changed.

“We were under the impression that they stopped this practice, so we were rightfully horrified to learn that nope, they’re continuing in spite all the objections from virtually every humane society in the state and region,” Dorson said.

We also reached out to one family who received a rabbit as a prize this past week. They say the rabbit is being well taken care of, and they had to be 18 or older and sign a waiver to get it. Dorson says that’s still not enough.

“So they still give away hundreds of all these animals, some may work out, the majority don’t. We know that because we see them in city parks, the vets tell us it’s not working out, and the parents are sometimes unhappy. So why even take that risk, why gamble maybe a 5% success rate and a 95% failure rate? And who fails? The animals suffer. So why even have this controversy? Just end it and we’ll all be happy,” Dorson said.

We reached out to the Livingston Parish Fair Board and have not heard a response. The Humane Society of Louisiana says they plan to do a yearlong campaign and boycott until they see a commitment to stopping the practice in writing.

The Greater Baton Rouge Fair Board told us they put it in the contract five years ago that they do not condone giving out rabbits as prizes, as they say, it is not the right image for a family fair.

Click here to report a typo. Please include the headline.

Click here to subscribe to our WAFB 9 News daily digest and breaking news alerts delivered straight to your email inbox.

Source link

Click to comment

Louisiana

Red flag warnings across south Louisiana

Published

10 hours ago

October 16, 2024

Press Room

Red flag warnings across south Louisiana

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Officials are urging people in Louisiana to be cautious when lighting fires over the next few weeks.

“Currently we’re under a red flag warning, which means conditions are conducive for a fire to get out of control,” said Commissioner Mike Strain, with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry.

Right now, Louisiana is seeing dry conditions, low humidity, and high wind speeds, which can cause a fire to easily become out of control.

”You need to wait until it’s been raining, and it’s been wet to burn those brush piles, today with the wind speeds as they are and the conditions on the land surrounding the brush pile, we’re advising please do not burn your brush piles,” added Strain.

Louisiana’s state climatologist, Jay Grymes, says the red flag warning won’t last long, but over the next few weeks, it is still a good idea to be cautious.

”A quarter of the state has already implemented some restrictions in terms of activities because conditions are so dry and I wouldn’t be surprised if, between this afternoon and this weekend, we see another five or 10 parishes added to that burn ban list,” said Grymes.

Grymes says the dry conditions are not expected to be quite as bad as last year when we saw wildfires take off across the state, but state officials are still preparing for anything.

”Those fires last year got so big that they didn’t even have the ground machinery to handle the fires, so LDAF is in the process of changing that in some locations and in terms of the equipment and the arsenal they’ll have, should we have a repeat of last year, not expecting things to get that bad this fall,” added Grymes.

The Central Fire Department is one of the stations ready with equipment.

”Several parishes have the ATVs that we deploy and put out the grass fires, we also have some flappers that we use to walk around the edge of the fire that’s in the field to extinguish it,” said Derek Glover, Asst. Chief for the Central Fire Department.

He said it’s not uncommon in these conditions, especially in rural areas, to see grass fires yearly, and they are ready if the time comes.

“As the grass burns in an open environment, the wind pushes it and it spreads quickly, so we try to stay on the burned side of the fire with the assets. That way there’s no danger of those being in the line of fire,” added Glover.

These experts ask that you do not burn anything, even if you aren’t in a parish with a burn ban, as one member can go a long way in these conditions.

For updates on parishes with burn bans click here.

Click here to report a typo. Please include the headline.

Click here to subscribe to our WAFB 9 News daily digest and breaking news alerts delivered straight to your email inbox.

Source link

Louisiana

The brightest Supermoon of 2024 will dazzle in Louisiana this week. Here’s when to see it.

Published

17 hours ago

October 16, 2024

Press Room

The brightest Supermoon of 2024 will dazzle in Louisiana this week. Here’s when to see it.

This week, Louisiana will witness a bigger and brighter moon. October’s full moon, also referred to as the “Hunter’s Moon,” will coincide with the third Supermoon of the year.

A Supermoon occurs only when the moon is the closest distance from the Earth. This can make the moon look up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter.

Compared to the super blue moon in August, this Supermoon isn’t the most rare, but it will be the brightest.

The Supermoon is set to peak Thursday night, though a full moon will appear from Tuesday to Friday, according to NASA.

The Supermoon will rise at 6:26 a.m. on Thursday morning, but will be most visible after sunset in Louisiana.

What is a Hunter’s Moon?

Historically, the October full moon marked the beginning of hunting season, hence its name. Occurring after the Harvest Moon, September’s full moon, hunters waited for the Hunter’s Moon to signify when the fields were bare, and the animals well-fed.

The term comes from the Algonquin Native American Tribe, and was used by the Old Farmer’s Almanac in the 1930s.

Since the moon rises at approximately the same time over several nights, this period was optimal for hunters as they began scavenging for the upcoming season.

This Hunter’s Moon will be the third of fourth consecutive Supermoons this year.

Source link

Louisiana

University of Louisiana at Monroe holds ribbon cutting for first Louisiana Mesonet

Published

1 day ago

October 16, 2024

Press Room

University of Louisiana at Monroe holds ribbon cutting for first Louisiana Mesonet

MONROE, La. (KNOE) – The University of Louisiana Monroe held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the first installation of the Louisiana State Mesonet, an interconnected network of instrumented weather monitoring stations on Monday, October 15.

. The ceremony was held on the ULM campus at the mesonet site located adjacent to University Park on Bon Aire Drive. It featured special guests such as the Louisiana District 5 U.S. Representative, Julia Letlow, and Brad Bryant, Meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Shreveport.

Congresswoman Julia Letlow secured $2 million dollars for the project through the Appropriations Act of 2023. The purpose of the Mesonet project is to fill coverage gaps across the state where there has been little weather data available.

“This day really isn’t about me; it’s about the incredible work that has culminated in something that is so incredibly inspiring, and I’m just proud to be a small part of it,” said U.S. Representative, Julia Letlow.

The Associate Director of the ULM School of Science and Associate Professor of Atmospheric Science, Dr. Todd Murphy acknowledged the growth that took place due to the hiring of Mesonet Manager Emily Newby and Mesonet Technician Dylan Hall, who have been instrumental in working with landowners across the state to secure mesonet sites.

The project is estimated to be complete by the end of 2025.

For information on Mesonet data visit mesonet.ulm.edu.

Source link