Animal well-being conference
Local shelters see overcrowding
Event to address ways Oklahoma can improve to reach its 2032 goal.
At a time when OKC’s Animal Welfare has had to euthanize 42 animals for space for the first time in two years, a conference dedicated to animal wellbeing is coming to Oklahoma City this Friday and Saturday.
In the months of June and July, the shelter took in more than 4,000 animals, said Animal Welfare Superintendent Jon Gary. Overcrowding is typical in the summer, and Gary hopes things will start to slow down in the fall.
Gary will be one of 38 speakers at the 2021 ANIMAL Conference, put on by the Kirkpatrick Foundation at the Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center. Gary will be presenting about the MAPS 4 Animal Shelter, proposed to start construction in 2024, which will help Animal Welfare in its goal of getting animals out of the shelter alive with a possible 100 more kennels than the current shelter has.
Gary said he is excited about the conference because of how it emphasizes the vital role animals play in people’s lives.
“Animal welfare is more than just about the animals, it’s about people’s well-being,” Gary said. “Where animals fare well, people fare well.”
Where Oklahoma can improve
The ANIMAL Conference is part of the Kirkpatrick Foundation’s Safe and Humane initiative, which aims to make Oklahoma the safest place to be an animal by 2032.
Right now, there are plenty of areas that Oklahoma needs to improve to reach that goal, said foundation Executive Director Louisa McCune.
Of the 185 million livestock animals in the state, 3.5 million of those are in extreme confinement, McCune said. These are animals that, for the majority of their life, cannot lie down, turn around, stand up or spread their wings, she said.
“Principally in Oklahoma, these are layer hens and breeding sow hogs,” McCune said. “Mitigating that suffering of those farmed animals in extreme confinement would be an area to look at to improving our stature nationwide.”
The state is also the eighth on the Best Friends Animal Society priority list for needless euthanasia, with 11,560 animals killed in 2020. That’s nearly 7,000 fewer than in 2019.
This reduction can continue by keeping the number of animals going into shelters down, McCune said.
Oklahoma is also one of the easiest states to own exotic animals, and leads the country in the illegal shipment of cockfighting roosters, McCune said. And while gas chamber euthanasia was outlawed in Oklahoma municipal shelters two years ago, McCune said there are still some small shelters that use gunshots to euthanize animals.
The state is also the eighth on the Best Friends Animal Society priority list for needless euthanasia, with 11,560 animals killed in 2020.
Tulsa area sees increase in pet surrenders
Oklahoma City is not unique in its shelter overcrowding, and Oklahoma Alliance for Animals Executive Director Erin Shackleford will be giving an update on the state of pets in Tulsa during the conference.
“We’ve seen so many of those pets that left (in 2020) flood the system back,” Shackleford said. “Our phone calls have increased dramatically for people wanting to surrender their pets.”
The Alliance was formed in 2004 by Jamee and Robin Suarez, who will receive the 2021 Kirkpatrick Honor for Animal Wellbeing at the conference, to address pet overpopulation. The organization has several programs, like Unchain OK, that promote education on humane treatment of animals. Shackleford said the alliance also works with law enforcement to ensure officers know how to handle animal cruelty cases.
“There’s no real basic training in terms of animal statutes or enforcing animal cruelty laws in the rural communities,” Shackleford said. “So most police officers don’t really have any basic information on animal cruelty law. We’re trying to have that implemented through CLEET classes, so that that every new incoming officer does have some basis.”
Improving animal wellbeing comes in many different shapes, because of the variety of roles animals play in our world, McCune said.
“Animals create this vibration on our planet that is just incalculable,” McCune said. “It’s important that we shine a light on how we can deliver the message of kindness to animals.”