New Oklahoma City Animal Shelter Proposed To City Council

A proposal for a new and improved animal shelter was presented to Mayor David Holt and the Oklahoma City Council Thursday.

This was part of the second MAPS 4 meeting held at City Hall.

PAWS for MAPS 4 advocates say the shelter no longer meets the needs for the size of Oklahoma City.

In 2018 alone, Oklahoma City Animal Welfare took in nearly 21,700 animals.

The current building, located on Southeast 29^th Street and South Bryant Avenue, was built in the early to mid-‘90s.

Many aspects of the facility, they say, are outdated.

“It wasn’t designed for life saving. It was really designed to bring animals in, to hold them for three days, then euthanize them. At that time only about 10 to 15 percent of the animals that came into our facility went out alive,” Oklahoma City Animal Welfare Superintendent Jon Gary said. “It was very much built, for lack of a better term, like a prison.”

Officials say a huge part is getting people in the door.

“It is obsolete, outmoded, outdated and insufficient for a city of our size,” Education Director for PAWS for MAPS 4, Louisa McCune said.

The new shelter would cost about $43 million and include up to 67,000 square feet.

“Animal shelters are uncommonly expensive buildings. It’s a system of ventilation and drainage. Lots of bathrooms and kitchens when you think about residential houses,” McCune said.

She says that 476 animals had to be euthanized in June alone. Mostly due to overcrowding.

A new facility would serve their mission's purpose, which is to save as many animals as possible.

For more information on the Paws for MAPS 4 project, click here.