Wednesday, September 4, 2019
A new facility to hold loose livestock picked up by the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office is expected to see a lot of activity, Sheriff Steve Prator said when unveiling the space this morning.
The Sheriff’s Office now has a two-acre holding pen behind Caddo Correctional Center to hold the horses, cows, goats, domestic pigs, and donkeys that break free from pastures and other confines in the parish on a regular basis.
Loose livestock is picked up weekly - and sometimes daily - by the Sheriff’s Office Stock Patrol. Some animals are held for a few hours until their owners can be located, and others stay for several weeks. If the owners cannot be identified, the animals are advertised for 10 days then auctioned off.
The Caddo Sheriff’s Office has had a Stock Patrol responsible for rounding up stray livestock since the late 1950s or early 60s. In recent years, CPSO has leased pastureland to house the animals. The idea of building a department holding pen arose from a need to keep a closer eye on the animals, especially those in poor health that need regular care, the Sheriff said.
“The new space includes working and holding pens with covered shelter that will provide more humane conditions for the animals until they can be reunited with their owners or sold at auction,” he said. “They are out of the weather in a safer facility which reduces stress on the animal.”
Prator said the CPSO Livestock Patrol provides a valuable service to the citizens of Caddo Parish. “A cow or horse in the roadway after dark can be catastrophic to public safety. By law, when these animals are picked up, we must do our due diligence to find the owner. And that means that cow or horse is probably going to be a guest of the Caddo Sheriff’s Office for a while.”
The new facility includes three covered holding areas, a gated unloading area, and a barn with two stalls. It was built by Sheriff’s Office Building and Grounds and Livestock Patrol personnel.
The cost to construct the holding pen was approximately $17,000, including donations and in-kind services. Donors included Pat Burroughs, Sean Botzong, North Shreve Welding, Bobcat Equipment, Blount Brothers Construction, and the Caddo Parish Commission.
