At the age of 19, Reed Ebarb co-founded Shreveport Bossier Animal Rescue, the only cat rescue to service Caddo, Bossier, Desoto, and Sabine Parish. In fact, he and his partner Kalli Bailey began this non-profit 17 months ago with an entire board of directors under the age of 30.
Ebarb’s research on feline death statistics indicates 12,000 to 13,000 cats are euthanized each year in the four parishes that their nonprofit services.
“Eventually Kalli and I reached a point where it was too much. We knew we had to do something and we had to do it now,” Ebarb said.
Shreveport Bossier Animal Rescue has waged an aggressive spay and neuter campaign in our region and they specifically focus on lower income neighborhoods. Ebarb says, “We do things no one else wants to do.”
When I asked Ebarb what he meant by that, he elaborated, “The majority of intakes of animals from across the country come from low-income neighborhoods.” He went on to discuss how these neighborhoods are underserved. According to Ebarb, Shreveport Bossier Animal Rescue focuses on promoting education in such neighborhoods as well as linking low-income families with grants for free spay and neutering through other non-profits they partner with, such as Robinson’s Rescue. Shreveport Bossier Animal Rescue has adopted out approximately 200 cats and spayed and neutered close to 700 cats since first opening their doors.
“We were not afraid to do things in a different way,” says Ebarb. This different approach to animal protection is making a dramatic impact on feline euthanasia rates in Caddo Parish alone. According to Ebarb, “In 2012, euthanasia rates were shockingly high at 92%.” He says in 2014, they were down to 83% and he believes opening the region’s first cat rescue has a great deal to do with this decrease. “More than 200 cats have been saved since we opened,” Reed says.
When I asked him, “What do you accredit most to your success?” he said, “We were not afraid to be young and take a risk.” This brings up an amazing point. How does a 20 year-old college student work 60 to 70 hours a week managing a non-profit?
“You sacrifice an incredible amount to do this. Well, you sacrifice everything to do this,” says Ebarb. He says his personal life suffers the most. “I barely have time to see my family or maintain friendships, much less go to the grocery store.” He says he typically works most days, attends college classes in the evenings, and then returns to work after his school gets out around 9 p.m.
Shreveport Bossier Animal Rescue just announced that they are in the process of planning to open Shreveport’s first “no-kill” cat shelter in early November. Ebarb says that this has been a long-term goal of his non-profit and they are thrilled to be hitting this milestone much earlier than they ever thought possible. “You spend a lot of nights second guessing yourself, but all the hard work can pay off,” says Ebarb. It certainly seems to be paying off for our local feline population and prospective adopting families, as Shreveport Bossier Animal Rescue’s young team of entrepreneurs continues to cross barriers like they are not even there.
You can find more information about Shreveport Bossier Animal Rescue at shreveportbossieranimalrescue.org.
-Crissy Malone