President Mike Cooper has announced that the Department of Animal Services is among the top open-admission animal shelters in Louisiana, following another year of monumental achievements.

"These results showcase the dedication and hard work of our Animal Services team and its’ volunteers, as well as the selflessness of our community partners and citizens who step up and foster and adopt,” said President Cooper. “I made a commitment to allocate resources and improve the services offered at our shelter, which will save the lives of the pets in our community. Please join me in congratulating all who helped make our Animal Services Department one of the top open-admission shelters in Louisiana in 2022.”

Most notably, Animal Services has maintained a 97% live release rate, which is among the highest in the state for open-admission shelters, for a second consecutive year, which designates the shelter as ‘no-kill.’ In comparison, Animal Services had a 55% live release rate in 2019, prior to President Cooper taking office.

“Our improvements would not have been possible without the determination of our staff, community partners, volunteers and citizens who help save the lives of our community’s pets,” said Robert Bremer, Director of Animal Services. “I am incredibly proud of our accomplishments, which prove that the Department of Animal Services is one of the leaders of Louisiana’s open-admission shelters.”

In 2022, Animal Services welcomed approximately 4,000 animals and helped find homes for 1,021 pets through adoption. Nearly 1,300 animals found homes in other communities nationwide through rescue transfers.

The following statistics are in comparison to 2019, which features remarkable improvements:

• Average length of stay for dogs – 23 days, down from 40 days.
• Average length of stay for cats – 26 days, down from 37 days.
• Average monthly population for dogs – 118, down from 207.
• Average monthly population for cats – 191, down from 245.
• Animal control emergency response time – 30 minutes, down from 45 minutes.
• Animal control non-emergency response time – 23 hours, down from 3.5 days.
• Animals in cruelty cases – 81, up from 5.

In 2022, under the guidance of Animal Services leadership, the Parish Council adopted the ‘Community Cat Ordinance,’ which allows staff to catch, neuter and release feral cats to control population. Animal Services administration was invited to speak at the Best Friends Animal Society, a national leader in the no-kill movement, annual conference in 2022 to discuss successes in the Community Cat Ordinance.

In 2022, the Department of Animal Services was also honored with the Touchstone Award from Best Friends based on national shelter data and work from 2021.

Animal Services provides a friendly, safe and clean facility for stray animals and unwanted pets. The shelter offers a wide array of animals for adoption throughout the year, from cats and dogs, to horses and pigs. Adoption hours at the Animal Services Shelter are Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Our Animal Services shelter has transformed into a happy respite and transfer station where animals transition to their ‘fur’ever homes.

St. Tammany Parish Government is now accepting recycled Christmas trees for marsh creation and fish habitat enhancement.

Only bare, unflocked trees will be accepted at:
         • St. Tammany Parish Fairgrounds, 1515 North Florida Street, Covington
         • Old Levee Board Property, 61134 Military Road, Slidell

Trees will be accepted during daylight hours. All trees must be stripped of all decorations and the stands be removed to be eligible for the program.

“The Christmas tree recycling program is an important part of our coastal restoration plans, but it is only possible with our citizens’ participation,” said Parish President Mike Cooper. “I encourage all of our residents to drop off their trees to designated areas to be placed strategically in our marshes.”

The program lasts until January 28, 2023. Parish crews will then place the trees in coastal areas for enhancement.

For more information, please call 985-898-2529 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

President Mike Cooper opposes the Parish Council’s decision to defund key initiatives to address traffic and drainage concerns and has vetoed the effort to fund the unidentified projects with no purpose or need.

“My administration has been and will continue to be focused on avoiding the mistakes of the past, increasing the investment in our infrastructure and providing for our future,” said President Cooper. “The budget that we submitted reflected those ideals and the values of our citizens. I am extremely disappointed that our Parish Council took money out of key initiatives, such as new roadways, drainage improvements and even bridge replacements on our aging Tammany Trace. The decisions that we make today will have a tremendous impact on our quality of life now and in the future.”

President Cooper submitted a Capital Improvement budget totaling more than $60 million in long-awaited, critically-important improvements, including:

• ·         Construction of the Mandeville Bypass Road - $24.5 million
• ·         Comprehensive Parishwide Drainage Plan Phase 2 - $300,000
• ·         Replacement of seven Tammany Trace bridges - $6 million
• ·         Spanish Trail Heights Subdivision Drainage Improvements in Slidell area - $900,000
• ·         Construction of Roundabout at Emerald Forest and Falconer in Covington area - $1.5 million

“Funding is available for all of the aforementioned initiatives, but were removed from my proposed 2023 Capital Improvement budget by the Parish Council. In fact, many of these projects were removed without our citizens being informed. I wish to thank those Councilmembers who have worked with my administration and asked productive questions about these projects leading up to the meeting.”

On December 19, President Cooper line item vetoed the “Projects to be Identified” as adopted in the 2023 Capital Improvement Budget totaling $10,873,500.

“In the same adopted budget, our Parish Council allocated nearly $11 million of ‘Projects to be Identified.’ Simply put, this is not in the best interest of our citizens, lacks transparency and accountability,” President Cooper said. “Our Charter sets specific requirements for ‘detailed estimates of all proposed expenditures.’ This effort to budget for projects without identifying them restricts the opportunity for our citizens to review and comment.”

“I do not and will never support any attempt to defund studied, impactful transportation and drainage projects, which have been vetted extensively, to re-allocate funds to projects without thoughtful purpose or need. I recognize your authority to amend the budgets, but the effort to reduce investments in parishwide initiatives and add millions to projects that have not been thought of is not prudent and is unacceptable.”

“We cannot continue with archaic, inefficient “fiefdom” management of projects and must support a more comprehensive, centralized approach. The citizens of St. Tammany Parish have elected us to not only preserve their health, safety and welfare, but also, improve their quality of life. I encourage our Parish Council to join me in prioritizing our citizens’ needs today and planning for the future of our great Parish.”

President Cooper has resubmitted the request to fund the aforementioned five projects, which were removed from the Capital Budget by the Parish Council. The resubmittal will be introduced at the January 5 Parish Council Meeting, which will be held at 6 p.m. in the Council Chambers on Koop Drive.