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May 5, 2009

Group, city partner for critters

By Liz McMahan

Spay or neuter — it takes Jackie Mabe those three words to sum up the answer to Muskogee’s animal control problems.

“The problem is out here (in the community),” Mabe said. “It wouldn’t be a problem if you would spay or neuter and have a fence.”

One of the founding members of Coins 4 Critters, which is dedicated to rescuing animals and getting pets spayed or neutered, Mabe said she is excited about her group working closely with the Muskogee Animal Shelter to help more animals than in the past.

The city shelter has implemented a policy that does not allow animals to be released without being spayed or neutered. It now costs $90 to adopt a dog from the shelter.



However, Coins 4 Critters will pay a $25 fee for the animals it takes and will have the animals spayed or neutered through their program, Mabe said.



“We will pay the $25 to get them out,” she said. “We don’t have a problem with the fee. They must have money to make the changes at the shelter.”

Mabe said she is impressed with the new dog runs that have been built at the shelter, the cleanliness of the facility and the training program for shelter employees. She also likes the shelter’s plans for having a birthing center for pregnant animals and an isolation room for diseased animals.

That isolation room is a priority for City Clerk Pam Bush, who oversees the shelter.

“We need the isolation room so we can isolate the sick animals from the healthy animals,” Bush said. “As soon as you put the sick animals in with the health animals, they all start getting infected.”

Bush said the animal shelter can be modified to create the isolation room. Other projects may take a little longer to accomplish, she said.

“We’ve got things in the works that we’re going to be looking at to get these dogs out the door,” she said. “We’re just going to try to be one of the best shelters in the state.”



Reach Liz McMahan at 918-684-2926 orClick Here to Send Email

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