PAWHUSKA, Okla. — Every day at 4-Paws Animal Shelter, Susie Owens holds her breath.
She wonders if this one might be the day one of her 49 animals finally finds a forever home. After more than a year of waiting, dogs like Bella are still hoping for that miracle.
"I'm here 7 days a week, 10 to 12 hours a day," Owens said, the shelter operator. "Very few people every visit the shelter."
She's been working day in and day out for nearly 500 days without one day off.
The numbers paint a stark picture: 4-Paws currently houses 24 dogs and 25 cats, but the resources to care for them are running dangerously low.
"We're struggling," said Owens. "The animals keep coming, but the donations have just really seemed to slow down tremendously," Owens explained.
Andrea McBride serves as secretary of the shelter's board of directors. She said this situation could be make or break.
“We depend 100% on donations and they’re just not coming in," said McBride. "We've rescued animals all across the county. Fairfax, Wynona, Hominy, Barnsdall and we just are not getting any local donations. So it makes it very tough to pay the vet bill to provide the cleaning supplies, the cat food, the cat litter, the dog food. We're just really at a crisis moment.”
The board went before city council at the end of September asking for financial assistance. That conversation was tabled for mid October.
The financial reality is brutal. The shelter faces a $4,600 veterinary bill while caring for seven dogs requiring daily medication. Every kennel is full, and Owens and her board can't keep up with the mounting costs.
Right now, the city gives the shelter $3,300 a month and pays for electric.
"We cannot pay my salary and our vet bill and provide for the animals all at once," she said.
The little Owens does make, goes right back into caring for the animals.
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As Pawhuska Police Chief Forrest Smith sees it, 4 Paws serves as a crucial community resource.
"We're inundated with animal calls, calls for service, and it's nice to know that we have a place that we can take our animals and they're going to receive care — not just housing, but care," said Smith.
Without the shelter, Smith says there would be nowhere for stray or abandoned animals in the area to go.
That is exactly what Owens is worried about.
"We have 24 dogs currently and if we were to shut the doors, I don't know what would happen to those dogs," Owens said.
2 News Oklahoma's Stef Manchen asked how close the shelter is from closing.
"Pretty close... that's coming real close to being reality," said Owens.
Despite the challenges, Owens remains committed to her mission. Off camera, she said even knowing how much they'd struggle, if she had to go back she'd still choose to run 4 Paws.
"We're grateful for any help we get from the community," said Owens. "I just wish we got more."
4 Paws is looking for help in any and all ways.
The shelter desperately needs donations, volunteers, and most importantly, people willing to adopt the animals currently waiting for homes.
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