Tulsa SPCA Statement on Beagle Rescue

Through July 27th, the Tulsa SPCA has taken 852 dogs and cats into our program this year. Of those, 852 have come from Oklahoma. Yes, you read that correctly, 100% of our intakes are from our state. Approximately 25% have come in as transfers from other rescues/shelters in our area, 10% as strays and the remaining 65% are owner surrenders and/or cruelty intakes. As with all rescues and shelters in our community, we have been overwhelmed by the need we’ve seen this year. Through the same time period last year, we took in 505 animals. We are fully aware of how much greater the need seems to be this year.

Our agency first and foremost prioritizes animals in our area, but we are part of a larger community and believe we have an obligation to help others if we can, when we can. That has always been our position. Last year for example, we took in 35 dogs and cats from Louisiana during rescue operations after Hurricane Ida. We also helped with rescues during Hurricanes Harvey and Irma in previous years. Just as important to remember, in May and June of 2019, rescue partners around the country answered our call for assistance and took in 100+ animals from our shelter along with hundreds more from other shelters in our community after the extreme flooding we experienced. Additionally, some of these same partnerships provide the huge shipments of food we receive and pass on to help struggling owners continue caring for their pets. And so, we want to be transparent about our role in the upcoming beagle rescue currently receiving so much attention.

The Tulsa SPCA will be receiving approximately 30 beagles at some point over the next few days and weeks, from the highly publicized rescue effort to remove them from a mass breeding facility in Virginia and prevent their subsequent use in laboratory research. We plan to continue taking in animals from our community during this time and hope you understand our desire to play a small role in helping place the beagles as well. If beagles aren’t your cup of tea, we understand and invite you to instead adopt some of our longer term animals who haven’t found their forever home yet, despite being ready and available in our shelter for months. Zuki (lab/shepherd mix), Zoey (coonhound), Jacob (bulldog mix) and Chester (hound mix) for example have been with us since April and would love to join your family!

By the end of the year, we expect to have taken over 1,300 animals into the Tulsa SPCA. Barring any other emergency situations, we don’t anticipate any more than these 30 animals coming to us from outside of our state. Thanks so much for your support and understanding as we try to help as many animals as possible.