Tulsa SPCA Takes Dozens Of Dogs From Hoarding Situation In Haskell County

The Tulsa SPCA is asking the public for help after it says it took in dozens of dogs and four cats from a hoarding situation in Keota down in Haskell County.

Now, volunteers are working to check them all out and get them adopted.

The Tulsa SPCA says a lot of the dogs are in pretty bad shape and very matted- so the first order of business is shaving the dogs and then getting their medical problems treated, before eventually finding them good homes.

These dogs were rescued Sunday, and they spent Monday getting checked out by veterinarians and shaved. The Tulsa SPCA took in a majority of these dogs from what they say was a hoarding situation in Haskell County.

The SPCA says they were called by the Oklahoma Alliance for Animals to come assist in the rescue, and the animals were split up between those organizations.

"The family didn't know how bad it had gotten,” said Lori Long, the Director of Development, Communications, and Outreach for the Tulsa SPCA. “When they did, that's when they went into action to try and remedy the situation. It doesn't usually start out as a conscious decision to hoard animals. It starts out with good intentions."

Long hopes that people will visit their loved ones, not just to check on people but also pets.

"If they tend to be more rural or not have people checking in on them frequently, it may be a case that they are embarrassed, they think they're going to get judged, they feel like they're not going to have control anymore,” said Long.

She says this rescue comes at a time when shelters everywhere are full.

"This is an emergency time for us,” said Long. “Taking in 50 animals, that's half of our daily capacity. We took those in immediately. And help is needed. Support is needed."

Dr. Christen Thomas, the Veterinary Medical Director at the Tulsa SPCA, is one of the veterinarians who has been taking care of the dogs.

She believes the dogs are happy despite everything they’ve been through.

"Whether it's happy to be out of there, I know a lot of them; we shaved them off last night, so they were happy,” said Thomas. “Last night, after getting some of their mats off, some of them perked up quite a bit, which was kind of neat to see."

Haskell County Sheriff Terry Garland said deputies checked two locations with reports of uncared-for dogs but did not find evidence of neglected and malnourished animals. Garland said they found a few dogs at one address that appeared to be well-fed.

The Tulsa SPCA says if you are interested in donating, they need dog food, as well as dog collars and harnesses.

For more information on the Tulsa SPCA, you can visit their website here.