Washington Parish Sheriff’s deputies were involved in a situation last week that led to the arrest of two people who were charged with cruelty to animals.
The incident occurred on Unicorn Hills Road, which is off of Highway 430 (Hackley Highway) north of Franklinton in the rural parish.
Deputies were contacted by the Humane Society of Louisiana, which reported that many dogs in various stages of neglect were located at or near an abandoned mobile home on Unicorn Hills Road.
The deputies and officials from the Humane Society discovered multiple large dogs in extremely small, filthy kennels that would barely allow them to stand up or turn around. They found 11 more dogs in various stages of neglect inside the mobile home.Some of the dogs appeared to be severely underweight and none had sufficient food or water.
The sheriff’s deputy at the scene authorized the Humane Society officials to remove the dogs.
The owners of the dogs were located and arrested and charged with cruelty to animals.
Matthew Tarver, 43, and Debra Norris Laborde, 51, were booked into the Washington Parish jail with bond set at $3,500 for each. Each of the two has posted bond and has been released.
Editor’s note: Other media outlets have reported in conjunction with these arrests that Washington Parish operates a “modest” animal shelter in Franklinton but in fact the parish operates an outstanding animal shelter in the central area of the rural parish, 12 miles east of Franklintion. The incorrect information about the parish animal shelter apparently came from a news release provided by the Humane Society of Louisiana. The Humane Society's news release also stated that the animal abuse incident reported on above occurred in Franklinton, but it did not. It happened in the rural parish between Franklinton and Hackley.
The Washington Parish animal shelter has received praise from residents throughout the parish. The Era-Leader’s editor has toured the Washington Parish Animal Shelter and it is an amazingly clean and well-operated facility.
Washington Parish’s progress concerning its animal shelter is an entirely separate issue from the arrests of these two people for animal cruelty. One has nothing to do with the other.
