COWETA, Okla. — Amid persisting shelter overcrowding and illegal pet abandonment on city property, on July 26 Coweta's police chief announced to 2 News a public pet fostering campaign in the works.
“I have never seen the amount of discarded animals, especially puppies, as we are seeing today,” Chief Mike Bell said in a July 23 Facebook post from the page for Coweta Animal Control.
Chief Bell said the frequent problem of illegal abandonment is especially harmful during the summer when people have left puppies in boxes and dogs tied to fences near the animal control center.
"When you drop a dog off in the middle of nowhere, the first thing they’ve got to start doing is looking for water," Bell said. “The other day, we actually had an individual that we know came from outside of our area - outside of our city - and dropped two dogs over by our Subway here in town. You can’t do that."
The city agreed earlier this year to take in a few dogs from City of Bixby, but others bringing animals without the city knowing has stretched resources thin, Bell said.
“When you only have 13 kennels and someone brings out eight puppies plus a mother, now you’ve got a serious problem," the chief said. "That takes up that whole kennel all through itself.”
- WATCH: Full interview with Coweta chief on dog abandoning, shelter overcrowding
WATCH: Full interview with Coweta chief on dog abandoning, shelter overcrowding
Coweta police have since installed new cameras at the shelter for possible misdemeanor arrests the next time someone tries to abandon dogs without going through the proper channels.
When speaking with 2 News Oklahoma on July 26, Chief Bell also announced a pet a foster program the city is starting up. Foster owners would reportedly be able to take care of and shelter a dog with food and medicine assistance from the city.
“And maybe that will help us out," he said. "We’re going to allow you to sign for the dog, take it to your house. It won’t be your dog, of course, unless you decide to adopt it, but it’s a foster plan. We hope this will get some of the animals out of our control center and into a loving home for a short time until we can find an adoption."
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