WBRZ - Baton Rouge

BATON ROUGE- The new director of Companion Animal Alliance, or CAA, hopes to make East Baton Rouge Animal Control and Rescue a no-kill facility.

Laura Hinze moved from Chicago to be the director of CAA, the organization in charge of running the shelter at animal control.

As the Director of Operations at Chicago's largest no-kill humane society, Hinze increased adoptions by 1,000 percent in four years.

Hinze has developed a three-part plan for the East Baton Rouge shelter. The plan includes decreasing the number of animals that come in to the shelter, providing better treatment for the ones already there and getting animals adopted or into foster homes more quickly.

Hinze says she's counting on support from the community.

"The skill that I hope I posses is being able to engage the volunteer base, engage the community and be able to more adequately communicate what our needs are so we can all move Baton Rouge to where we want it to be, which is a no-kill," Hinze said.

Last year more than 6,000 animals were euthanized at East Baton Rouge Animal Control and Rescue. CAA plans to team up with other local rescue organizations to get as many animals adopted out of the shelter as possible.

CAA plans to host an open house in the next couple of weeks where members of the community can meet the new director and the animals available for adoption. The organization is also going to put a "wish list" on its website where people can make donations.

East Baton Rouge Animal Control and Rescue is located at 2680 Progress Road and is now open Sunday through Friday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.