Four thousand animals arrive yearly from nearby animal shelters to the Tulsa Animal Shelter in Oklahoma. No other shelters wanted to do the killings...it might give them a bad reputation and also upset their employees.
Doomed animals from suburbs end up at Tulsa animal shelter
10:51 PM CDT on Sunday, May 18, 2008
Associated Press
TULSA, Okla. – The practice of animal shelters from surrounding towns sending their unwanted animals to Tulsa to be euthanized has drawn the attention of Tulsa city officials.
Tulsa officials estimate that about 4,000 animals a year arrive at the Tulsa Animal Shelter from outlying towns like Collinsville, Jenks, Sapulpa, Sand Springs and Claremore.
Kevin Botts, Sapulpa's animal control officer, said that town sent more than 1,500 dogs and cats to the Tulsa shelter last year.
Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor said a recent budget analysis determined that Tulsa taxpayers are subsidizing 90 percent of the cost to euthanize animals from other cities.
"I was shocked to learn that we've been a dumping ground," Taylor said.
Those who operate animal shelters in the outlying communities said it makes sense to them to send the unwanted animals to Tulsa.
Gary Head, the operations superintendent at a new shelter in Jenks, said that town "wants nothing to do with killing dogs" and said that Tulsa's shelter is set up to take care of animal euthanization for an inexpensive cost.
"It keeps us low-key and out of the public eye," Head said. "We don't have a bad reputation here."
Claremore city spokeswoman Cassie Sowers said staff morale among the workers at that town's shelter also is a concern.
"Our animal officers aren't cruel people," she said. "It's hard for them to do the injection, watch the dog die and then dispose of the body. It's easier and more humane to take them up to Tulsa where they use the gas chamber."
Other towns that delivered animals to the Tulsa shelter in April include Bixby, Glenpool and Mounds.
Those who work at Tulsa's shelter don't appreciate its status.
"Mondays tend to be very dark around here with all the trucks coming in," said Tulsa's shelter manager, Jean Letcher. "It's not fun. It's not something we enjoy."
It costs the city of Tulsa $10 to euthanize, cremate and dispose of an unwanted animal. Letcher said that cost will rise to $15 if, as is likely, the city moves away from using the carbon monoxide gas chamber to euthanize multiple animals at once and begins using more lethal injections.
Taylor said the fee for the euthanasia service should increase "to encourage spay and neutering and not encourage euthanasia."
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