April 11, 2008 - Oklahoma City:
American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals chooses area as finalist for aid
Officials on mission to save strays
City's animal shelter is trying to reach a goal of a 'no-kill' policy.
By Bryan Dean
Staff Writer
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Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Edition: CITY, Section: NEWS, Page 9A
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Christy Counts knows people don't want to put faces to the numbers.
During fiscal year 2007, Oklahoma City euthanized 19,365 dogs and cats — most of them guilty of nothing more than being unwanted.
Counts, president of the Oklahoma Humane Society, said people have a hard time with the thought that dozens of dogs and cats, just like the pets they love, are being killed each day.
"It's easier to turn away and pretend it isn't happening," Counts said.
But that won't solve the problem.
Counts is working with Oklahoma City officials to confront the issue by spaying and neutering as many animals as possible. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has noticed.
The ASPCA recently named Oklahoma City as one of three finalists for Mission: Orange. Named for the group's trademark color, the program can bring up to $600,000 to a city for animal welfare programs.
Cleveland and Asheville, N.C., are the other two finalists. ASPCA officials can pick two of the finalists for Mission: Orange.
Over the next year, Oklahoma City's Animal Welfare Division and the Oklahoma Humane Society will work with the ASPCA, going over animal welfare statistics and identifying problems and strategies for solving them.
Partnership credited
The group cited the strong partnership between the city and the Oklahoma Humane Society as a reason for picking Oklahoma City as a finalist.
Catherine English, superintendent of the city's Animal Welfare Division, said the ASPCA requires finalists to include a partnership of at least two organizations that house at least 80 percent of the city's homeless pet population.
"A lot of communities do not have a good cooperative relationship like we do with the humane society," English said.
Mayor Mick Cornett credits that relationship for helping the city turn a corner with animal welfare issues.
The city is in the midst of an effort to make its shelter a "no-kill" shelter, meaning no adoptable animals would be euthanized.
Cornett said he thought the city was failing its pet population as recently as two years ago.
"I was pessimistic and disappointed and disturbed," Cornett said. "We weren't on a path toward success. We were just trying to minimize the problem. Now I believe we are going to be a city that will be a national leader in the way we conduct our animal control problem."
The humane society has begun several programs for spaying and neutering more animals. English said the city's animal shelter, understaffed with veterinarians, relies on the humane society's spay/neuter clinic to sterilize more animals and get them into the city's adoption program, sparing them from euthanasia.
Counts, who worked for the city's Animal Welfare Division before founding the Oklahoma Humane Society last year, said her relationship with her former co-workers makes cooperation easier.
"I absolutely believe we are close to the tipping point," Counts said. "If we can get the public's attention on these matters, we are 90 percent there."
BY THE NUMBERS
Animals euthanized by shelters
Although Oklahoma City has made little progress in the last 10 years to reduce the number of animals euthanized at the animal shelter, the numbers are about half what they were in the late 1980s. Following is a breakdown of the number of animals taken in to the animal shelter each year and the number euthanized:
1986-1987: 45,427 accepted, 32,646 euthanized
1987-1988: 38,102 accepted, 29,840 euthanized
1988-1989: 36,312 accepted, 28,260 euthanized
1989-1990: 35,240 accepted, 27,116 euthanized
1990-1991: 34,635 accepted, 25,045 euthanized
1991-1992: 34,426 accepted, 26,040 euthanized
1992-1993: 30,495 accepted, 21,886 euthanized
1993-1994: 29,499 accepted, 20,392 euthanized
1994-1995: 27,756 accepted, 20,361 euthanized
1995-1996: 24,789 accepted, 17,060 euthanized
1996-1997: 25,498 accepted, 18,559 euthanized
1997-1998: 27,052 accepted, 18,693 euthanized
1998-1999: 26,657 accepted, 16,757 euthanized
1999-2000: 25,930 accepted, 16,615 euthanized
2000-2001: 23,554 accepted, 17,615 euthanized
2001-2002: 25,472 accepted, 14,095 euthanized
2002-2003: 26,274 accepted, 13,911 euthanized
2003-2004: 24,592 accepted, 14,794 euthanized
2004-2005: 25,034 accepted, 15,554 euthanized
2005-2006: 27,836 accepted, 14,979 euthanized
2006-2007: 28,688 accepted, 19,365 euthanized
July 1, 2007-April 8, 2008: 21,382 accepted, 13,188 euthanized
AT A GLANCE
In fiscal year 1987, the Oklahoma Animal Welfare Division accepted more than 45,000 animals and euthanized more than 32,000. Only 2,254 were adopted
In fiscal year 2007, animal welfare accepted more than 28,000 animals and euthanized more than 19,000, while more than 7,000 were adopted.
In fiscal year 1987, only 2,254 animals were adopted or rescued. Twenty years later, 2,494 animals were rescued and 4,544 were adopted.
Through the first 10 months of this fiscal year, animal welfare has accepted 21,382 animals, including 9,104 from owners and 12,278 strays. Some animals were already dead, some were reclaimed by owners, but 1,531 were taken by rescue operations and 4,818 were adopted.
Thousands of dogs and cats are killed in Oklahoma City each year — guilty only of being unwanted. The city's animal shelter is working to change that, moving toward becoming a "no kill" shelter. Up to $600,000 from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals could help. The city is a finalist to get the money for animal welfare programs.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE 20 YEARS MAKES
1987
45,000
Number of animals accepted at animal shelter.
32,000
Number of animals euthanized.
2,254
Number of animals adopted.
2007
28,000
Number of animals accepted at animal shelter.
19,000
Number of animals euthanized.
7,000
Number of animals adopted.
Copyright 2008, The Oklahoman Publishing Company.
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