By Keith Purtell
Most rural areas in Oklahoma counties don’t have animal control. There is no one to rescue strays and no shelter in which to house them. April Rogers, who lives near Rentiesville, has seen the grim consequences.
“I’ve seen lots of carcasses,” she said. “We live near the Honey Springs Historic Battlefield, and I’ve seen many dog skeletons in that area.”
The reason for the high death rate is that animals raised around people don’t know how to survive in the wild. That, and the fact that some people have unrealistic ideas about what will happen if they toss unwanted pets out of a car on a country road.
“People really believe that the dog will just find a friendly farm house, or that it will join a pack of wild dogs,” Rogers said.
And, the frequency of animal abandonment has shocked Rogers.
“It’s unreal,” she said. “Last month we found one litter of seven puppies, a momma with five puppies, and two adult dogs. And, there are more cats than you can imagine.”
Muskogee County Sheriff Charles Pearson said something will have to change within the next five years.
“The people in the county deserve and need to have animal control,” he said. “They’re considering a bill at the state capital that would make it so smaller counties can have animal control. I just hope it isn’t one of these unfunded mandates. The county commissioners can’t afford to give me any more money.”
Pearson said the problem with stray animals is worse in areas like Gooseneck Bend, Oktaha and Wainwright, where many homes have been built.
If the county was allowed to have animal control and funding was available, Pearson said it would be a big job.
“We would have to run two shifts, and the shelter would have to be as big or bigger than the one in Muskogee,” he said.
Pearson said he and his wife have tried to help when they were looking for pets.
“We got a couple of animals from PAWS (Promoting Animal Welfare Society), and we got one from the shelter,” he said. “We tried to do our part.”
Dorothy Farmer, executive director for PAWS, passionately defends the right of animals to be treated humanely.
“Unless you have feelings and truly are compassionate, you probably shouldn’t have a cat or dog,” she said. “There will be feed bills, vet bills and accidents will happen.”
Too many animals are purchased without thinking about everything that goes with pet ownership, Farmer said.
“Most people get pets on a whim,” she said. “You can look up information on a certain breed. A pet can live 10 to 20 years, and you’re going to be responsible. Despite that, people will look at me like I’m crazy when they want to adopt, and I ask them if they have a fenced yard.”
Farmer said it’s good that there are many pet-supply stores in this area, but there is room for improvement in basic attitudes.
“We don’t love them enough,” she said. “A pet is not a thing. It’s a living, breathing creature with feelings. It gets hot, cold, hungry and thirsty, just like you. Every animal has feelings. Put yourself in their place. A pet is just like a kid that can’t talk.”
Jackie Mabe with Coins 4 Critters agreed with Rogers’ comments about the true consequences of people abandoning animals.
“A tremendous number of animals are dumped,” she said. “We find a lot of them that have starved to death. And, a lot of people shoot those dogs on sight if they’re big enough to be a threat to cattle.”
Mabe said education is needed to change public perception.
“People need to understand that when they take an animal home, they take it for as long as it lives,” she said. “My hope is that we’ll be able to reach out to those people.”
