Dolores “Dokey” Boutte dedicated her life to animals.

“She loved every one of them,” her daughter Elizabeth Boutte said about the 20 animals her mother had at home. “She also raised four daughters, two grandsons and a great grandson.”

Boutte, 82, a lifelong resident of New Iberia, died at her home Saturday. A founding member of the Iberia Humane Society, she volunteered with the agency since founding it with her brothers Henry and Felix Mestayer in 1980.

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In addition to her duties at the humane society shelter, which included cleaning cages and feeding the animals, Boutte also served as the Iberia Humane Society treasurer. She took many of the animals at the shelter home with her.

“When her friends passed away or went into nursing homes, she would end up keeping some of their pets for them,” Elizabeth said.

Boutte sold the humane society its land at 1352 Troy Road in New Iberia, and still owned the adjacent property, a wildlife refuge, at the time of her death.

“We still care about the animals there,” Elizabeth said. “We’re planning to call that land the Dokey Wildlife Refuge, because that was her nickname.”

The animals, which Boutte had at her home at the time of her death, included dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, chickens, birds, raccoons and others.

“It’s a zoo here,” her daughter said jokingly, adding her family could use some help in caring for all of them, including the ones her mother cared for at the humane society.

To Iberia Humane Society Director Danya Perry, Dolores Boutte is the reason the the organization exists.

“Long before there was the official IHS she created a little haven for the animals there on her property,” Perry said. “Dokey allowed the IHS to exist there as long as it was for that purpose. Her spirit will be there forever — it was her vision and her heart that started the whole thing.”

Boutte was also co-owner, with her brothers, of Taylor’s Drug Store in New Iberia. Her husband, Lloyd, died in 1982 and daughter Margaret in 2001. She is survived by three of her daughters Mary Catherine, Susan Marie, and Elizabeth, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

For information about helping to care for one or more of the animals Boutte cared for at her home, contact Elizabeth Boutte at 296-4679. To make a donation to the Iberia Humane Society in Boutte’s name, call Dana Perry at 365-1923.