CLAREMORE, Okla. — Only a month from the start of the 2026 Oklahoma Legislature, one bill wants to make the Sooner state more affordable for animal rescue non-profits.
Specifically, ones that need to buy a lot of food, medicine, and other items for animals rescued and needing a new home.
WATCH: New bill would give Oklahoma animal groups sales tax exemption
Senate Bill 1301 would add an 89th item to current exemptions to the state sales tax code to include registered 501(c) organizations that rescue or care for abandoned or abused animals, or provide sanctuary or shelter for those that have not or cannot be rehomed.
"We're standing alone pretty much as the only state that doesn't give any type of state sales tax break to an animal nonprofit," Claremore-based Wild Heart Ranch founder and director Annette King told 2 News via Zoom on Jan. 1.
- Previous coverage>>> Wild Heart Ranch buying land to preserve for wildlife
King is quick to point out the cost of not being tax-exempt despite the ranch taking in animals often found on the streets or in neglected homes.
"It can mean $20,000 to $30,000 a year for a moderately busy individual, a rescuer," she said. "We recently did a dog and cat food drive when food stamps were held up (in October) and I paid hundreds, like $700 in sales tax on dog food that I gave away."
The Grove-based horse rescue and rehab group Blue Rose Ranch helped draft SB1301 with State Sen. Micheal Bergstrom (R-Adair). The bill will get its first reading in committee Feb. 2.
King will observe Wild Heart Ranch's 30th anniversary this spring, but said she'll have a lot more to celebrate if her state supports groups like hers to save more money - to save a whole lot more critters.
"There's three months out of the year that that money would make a huge difference in our pocket," King said. "Because (our goal is) to never borrow a dime against this facility to give these animals everything they need to survive and get out of here whole."
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