January 18, 2008
Christy Counts made a current personal project of trying to find a home for a critter that she calls “the cutest three-legged Chihuahua you’ve ever seen!” Happily he accepted his name, “Tripod.”
His “people parents” couldn’t care for him, he’d not had regular vet care, and wound up in the Animal Shelter. Suckers for a precious furry face, Christy and Rita Hoch rescued him from the shelter, and saw to the necessary amputation that gave him mobility. He’s soooo hoping for a good home where he can scamper around unmindful that he’s short one leg. Maybe you need a furry baby that would have a challenge outrunning you?
Christy Counts shoves her limits, and her work ethic and energy are something to behold. Don’t think she even understands the phrase, “Can’t be done.” Christy is a MAJOR advocate for our furry four-footed friends, in that she founded, and is President of the Oklahoma Humane Society in OKC. Did you know that we, until one year ago, didn’t even have a Humane Society? We have an Animal Control who pick up and control animals, but the Humane Society is different. It is a 501C3 organization, gathers private sector support, and is “solution based.” Don’t know what you’d picture regarding someone with that responsibility. But you’d find Christy deeply caring, extremely intelligent, articulate, and beautiful. And in that svelte figure is carried the biggest heart you can imagine.
Christy grew up in Oklahoma City and was graduated from OU with a degree in Communications. Referencing testing limits, it’s a wonder that she was allowed to stay within Norman’s city limits during college. She and several roommates sometimes fostered up to ELEVEN animals. Town officials looked the other way regarding her slight disregard for meow/woof population, because when they had an animal that needed a home for a while, they knew Christy would come to the rescue.
She’s since lived in Dallas, California, Colo., and New York, and always worked for, or volunteered for the SPCA. Returning to OKC, she was amazed at the growth of our city, the excitement of Bricktown and the verve of activity around Lake Hefner, but was so surprised that we did not have a Humane Society.
This will shock you: Last year the Animal SHELTER took in 30,000 animals, and euthanized 18,000 healthy animals. The plan is for our city to go to “no-kill” in the next few years. For your information, NO-KILL addresses healthy, non-aggressive animals. Enthusiastic Christy met with Mayor Mick Cornet, whom, upon seeing her passion, said, “Can you make a plan for this?” Three days later, she put one on his desk. As President of the Board of Directors, the plan she and her committee drafted was a citywide focus with five steps:
No. 1. An affordable, accessible spay/neuter program. This has not been a priority for lower income families. Currently 70 percent of pets ARE neutered, but it is that 30 percent that are not, that are swelling the population.
No. 2. Support for people who don’t want to give up their animals, but need financial and in-home help.
No. 3. The issue of feral cats. “TNR” – trap, neuter, return. The program was to spay/neuter 1000 cats in a year, and they accomplished that in nine months. This is a very effective method; the cats are picked up, “fixed”, and returned to the wild. If you just get part of the group, nature makes the other cats breed like crazy to fill the void. Feral cats can have four litters a year. They do not become cuddly little kitties that blossom with love in your home, they are feral cats.
No. 4. Humane Education program: To educate, get churches involved, get youth, including “special needs” youth involved, have animal fairs in parking lots, etc. This statistic will horrify you: Eighty per cent of criminals started by abusing animals.
No. 5. Adoptions. The shelter adopted out 5,000 last year. Christy is forging ahead with a capital campaign to build a 50,000 square foot facility to house the animals until they are adopted.
“OH,” you say, “That will be so expensive.” True, BUT, the cost was ONE MILLION DOLLARS to euthanize those 18,000 last year! When people evaluate a city as a potential place to live, it is a badge of honor to show we are kind to animals.
Oklahoma is the second highest place in the nation in the proliferation of “puppy mills,” just after Missouri. There are FIVE HUNDRED puppy mills in our state. There is legislation in the works regarding puppy mills. If you buy from a puppy mill, know that most of those dogs are inbred, diseased, not socialized, and have lived in a 3’ x 5’ cage. The dogs from the Humane Society have their shots, are spayed or neutered, and socialized because they’ve been in “foster care” until they are returned to humans. Our shelters also do not adopt out Pit Bulls. It’s not the dog species, but usually the families who bring fear of the breed. You don’t find a lot of families who want a puppy to sleep with their kids who ask for a Pit Bull. So all Pit Bulls are euthanized in our state shelters. The Society also advocates that cats remain indoor cats.
Christy has the utmost respect for Dottie Lammerts and ARF (Animal Rescue Friends of Nichols Hills), and these groups work in tandem and toward the same goals. In fact, Christy chaired ARF’s Pooch Parade, and ARF only works with animals in Nichols Hills. Another surprising factoid: About 25 percent of the animals in the shelters are pure breed! Lab rescue can’t even take all that come through the doors, though the “Golden Group” takes all Goldens. Adoptions statistics are that there is only a 15-20 percent return rate to the shelter by adoptive parents. The adoption fee varies on the animal’s age, and what kind of animal it is, somewhere between $70-$150 -- which, if you’ve gone through this process, is a real bargain, as they are already neutered and have their shots.
You probably have friends on the Oklahoma Humane Society Board, as in Steve Bentley, Cheryl Vaught, Cass Hayes-Townsend, Don Bobzien, Cynthia Armstrong, Louise Bennett, John Calhoun DVM, Sheryl Colton, Julie Hall, Rita Hoch, Jim Klepper, Gerald Marshall, Dana McCrory, Lisa Price, Lyndon Taylor, and Legal Counsel Mike Joseph. The Vet Advisory Board consists of veterinarians Kristy Bradley, John Calhoun, Aaron Heintz, Roger Johnson, Beth Ruby, and Doug Ruby.
Their web page www.okhumane.org will make you want to add to your household. There are photos, the names, sizes, genders, and ages of precious big-eyed kitty cats and doggies on that website that will just steal your heart. That’s it, you’re in the car, and next thing you know, you’re buying pet food! Oh, Man! The love you get in return for giving a little orphan a home -- you just can’t duplicate that!
TRAVEL TIP
If flying with the appropriate sized containers that will make it through security is giving you fits, I’ve a suggestion. At Bed, Bath, & Beyond, there is a 16-piece carry-on kit with leak-proof ?, 1 & 2 oz. bottles, and labels, and with your ever-available 20 percent off coupon, the kit and caboodle is 7.99 plus tax.
The whole collection of bottles will fit in that dandy little quart bag, as it is packaged that way. The labels include shampoo, conditioner, hair gel, spray, mouthwash, cleanser, makeup remover, toner, foundation, day and night creams, the same for eye creams, moisturizer, lotions, body wash, hand cream, suntan lotions, lip balm and nail polish remover. The “Pack Max” is hanging on a wall display in the store, and there are two varieties. There is everything to get you through a disastrous luggage failure, and in the right size! Can’t make it any slicker!
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