At the annual rate that Oklahoma City’s animal welfare division must euthanize cats and dogs, about 100,000 animals are killed in any five-year period. That’s tragic and the inevitable consequence of pets being abandoned and/or not being kept from reproducing.
Featured Gallery
Advertisement
Animal shelter workers and volunteers would always prefer that no domestic animal be euthanized. The emotional burden is tremendous.
The Oklahoma City Council has agreed to continue funding a sterilization program for pet owners who can’t afford it. The council recently agreed to spend $25,000 to keep the program going trough June 30. Beyond that, it’s uncertain.
Council members also have put up money to pay for vaccines for all animals that go through the shelter. The idea is to make shelter cats and dogs healthier and thus easier to place in adoption. Ward 2 Councilman Sam Bowman deserves particular praise for these initiatives. Also meriting praise are organizations such as Volunteers for Animal Welfare, a nonprofit group founded in 1974 and supported by grants and donations.
Through its "Spay it Forward” campaign, Volunteers for Animal Welfare makes it possible for those who can afford it to cover the cost of sterilization for pets owned by those who can’t afford spaying and neutering.
The council’s generosity, we hope, will achieve some reduction in the number of pets that must be euthanized each year. Readers are urged to support these initiatives by volunteering at the shelter or donating to nonprofit animal welfare groups.
The burden of pet overpopulation is not only emotional. It costs a lot of money.
Thank you for joining our conversations on newsok. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
I am happy to see this editorial from the DO. Puppies and kittens are so cute. I would just like to put in a word for the grownups-many adult cats and dogs have a lot of love to offer-if they just get a chance.
June, Mustang....that is great! We have a large backyard and the "kids" stay close to home and the Pyr. protects his 12 yr. old babies. A cattery? Never heard of such a thing. Sounds wonderful!
I am a cat owner (I won't say how many!). I spent over $2000 to build a 20x30 foot cedar "cattery" onto my home. My cats can go outdoors, sit on shelves, watch birds, roll on concrete, drink from a fountain and still be "enclosed" in the cattery. Fresh air and outdoor play make cats healthier and decrease illness and vet bills. My yard is fenced for my dog, but my cats do not go outside their cattery.
Lawrence, Guthrie...I applaud your thinking on one hand, but on the other, we have the 2 cats and a 110lb. Great Pyr. The cost of taking care of (shots, and vet bills, or emergency visits) much less food, is huge. However, if we could afford to provide all costs for other critters, I am sure we would have more. Also, I used to work in Guthrie. Lovely town, but do to its more rural setting I am surprised they have limits the same as we do.
It is a shame these animals die, while at the same time many cities and municipalities have restrictions on the number of pets you can own per household. I would think as long as the animals get their shots and are healthy, the individual should be able to determine how many pets they can take care of. It gripes me to be told I can only have 3 pets.
Marie, owners of cats seem less inclined to keep their pets home. Why, I do not know. Our cats have been raised as indoor "babies" and are scared to death to leave the yard. They are still destructive to our/their outdoor territory. Cats have a specific nature and to ignore that fact is just another sign of neglect or ignorance.
I am not a pet owner nor do I wish to be but I really do appreciate that some folks love their pets and take good care of them. I do, however, have an extreme problem with pet owners who put their animals "out" to prey on the public. We have had flowerbeds destroyed by cats that have overrun the neighborhood because "owners" cannot keep their pet at home. There are many more problems than I care to list when irresponsible pet-owners turn their problem out of their home to destroy the neighborhood. Please take advantage of the services offered to stop the unnecessary euthanization of cats and dogs because you find you can no longer want to be a pet owner.
I am not a pet owner nor do I wish to be but I really do appreciate that some folks love their pets and take good care of them. I do, however, have an extreme problem with pet owners who put their animals "out" to prey on the public. We have had flowerbeds destroyed by cats that have overrun the neighborhood because "owners" cannot keep their pet at home. There are many more problems than I care to list when irresponsible pet-owners turn their problem out of their home to destroy the neighborhood. Please take advantage of the services offered to stop the unnecessary euthanization of cats and dogs because you find you can no longer want to be a pet owner.
John, Joplin....you are so correct. There are so many clinics that have annual, semi-annual low cost spay/neuter programs that not to take advantage of them is? (I can't even think of a word for it). We live in Del City and drove our cats to Thunderbird Vets, past Norman, OK. for their program which cost less than $60.00 for both as opposed to the almost $300.00 charged by Midwest City Animal Clinic. Yes, we had to wait and watch the animals until old enough for the procedures (male and female) and for the low costs, but we did. There is no reason for any pet owner or want to be pet owner not to plan for this measure.
If you can't afford to spay or neuter a pet, you can't afford to HAVE a pet. Just because that cute little puppy is "free" does not mean that it will not have an economic impact on your lifestyle. Responsible pet ownership involves planning for things like food and proper care, which for most animals should involve reproductive alteration.
12
Featured Gallery
Prev
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
Thank you for joining our conversations on newsok. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
Log in below or sign up (it's free).