The city of Newkirk, OK used taxpayer money to build a pound on property belonging to a veterinarian. The facility is under the police department and is not open to the public. Pets without collars are held for 3 days and, if unclaimed, are blasted with a shotgun, leaving behind a “bloody mess” according to the former city manager.
The only way for Newkirk residents to see if a lost pet has been impounded is to get hold of the ACO and make an appointment to look at the animals. Brenda O’Neill, a local animal advocate, tried for a year to talk to the ACO and the police chief about being let in to the facility to photograph the animals for networking online. She’s still trying.
And if that all sounds depressing, the new city manager says changes might be coming. Not because Newkirk is doing anything wrong mind you, but just because some modern day people are kind of whiny:
“What we’ve done for the past couple of decades isn’t exactly accepted now,” said Jason Orr, the Newkirk City Manager. Orr said many people living in rural Oklahoma accept the practice of shooting unwanted animals. “People have their different opinions especially in rural Oklahoma still view shooting animals a humane way to dispose of animals but however moving forward in the modern day and age there are a lot of people that don’t agree with that,” Orr said.
Some modern day people at the local news station wanted to see the animals and conditions at the pound but no:
The animal control officer told Fox 25 the building’s owner did not want anyone new to visit the shelter and we were denied a look at the conditions of the animals being held at the shelter.
I think they must mean the property’s owner because if taxpayers paid for the building, the city owns it and the public should not be locked out of a facility it financed. Plus what kind of creepy vet is so ok with pets being shot to death on his property that he’s willing to hide the bodies for the city?
Ms. O’Neill would like to see a new shelter built on one of the many vacant lots already owned by the city. The city manager is all, you go somewhere away from me and get that done:
“I would rather see citizens come together to initiate projects of this nature because I think that’s where it is handled the best is at that grass roots level,” Orr told Fox 25.
In the absence of city employees actually doing their jobs, Ms. O’Neill is trying to get some dogs out of the pound and adopted into homes but is extremely limited in how much she can help due to the city’s 3 dog limit. Add that to the list of outrageous city policies which need to be smote in Newkirk.
(Thanks Clarice for the link.)