The ESPCA Enid’s no-kill animal shelter is at a high capacity with ESPCA Executive Director Vickie Grantz saying that “the amount of animals needing placement is astronomical compared to prior years”. Grantz also says that the dog portion of the shelter is completely full.
Grantz believes that a variety of factors has led to the high capacity at the shelter including rising costs and a lack of elective procedures for animals during the starting months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Grantz said, “no spays and neuters were being done for 6-9 months in some locations”. This led to more dogs having puppies during COVID and some of the dogs who were born during COVID grew up and had puppies of their own. A lot of the dogs currently held at the RSPCA are 6 months to 1.5 years old.
What Grantz thinks the shelter especially needs right now besides people adopting and fostering animals from the shelter are volunteers. One way that volunteers could help the shelter is to pick 2 or 3 of the volunteers favorite dogs and walk those dogs and teach them, basic manners.
These volunteers would also be the ideal people to take the dogs to events where they would be adopted or fostered. However, working at an animal shelter isn’t all fun and games even for those who love animals. A lot of less than glamorous tasks need to be completed like cleaning animal waste or cleaning living spaces.
While these jobs aren’t fun they are a vital part of making sure the animals have a safe place to live that won’t be a vector for spreading diseases to the shelter animals. Another way that those who are interested in helping could assist the shelter is by attending the “Get Your Paws On Some Nachos” event being held tomorrow.
The event is from 11 am to 3 pm on Saturday, May 7th at 1116 Overland Trail Enid, OK. Nacho plates will cost 5$ and people will be able to build their own nachos. Proceeds from the event will go to the RSPCA and Rebel Rescue. Attendees will also be able to foster or adopt dogs at the event.
Click on the link below to listen to the full interview with Grantz.
https://soundcloud.com/derek-darr-389435489/espca-interview-mixdown
