An Oklahoma animal shelter has come under intense scrutiny after residents discovered it uses a horrific method of euthanization. The town of Bristow, which is about an hour southeast of Tulsa, is home to around 4000 people. As such, it falls under an Oklahoma law that allows shelters (in towns with less than 10,000 residents) to kill animals in any manner. The one catch is that the chosen method must be “humane,” but the law doesn’t explicitly define that term.
So, the shelter has been taking dogs out back and putting a bullet in them. Why would it do such a thing? Because this method is cheaper than chemical euthanization. Tulsa news station Fox 23 spoke with Bristow’s mayor, who confirmed this ungodly news. The past week has seen three dogs (one was a pit bull) killed by gunshot. The mayor defended the shelter’s decision, saying that the shelter tried to find homes for the pets, but the process took too long, and the shelter decided these dogs had no hope.
Other than the obvious criticism the shelter is facing — because no living being deserves to be taken out and shot — residents worry that the shelter “is targeting pit bulls.” However, the shelter insists that the breed has nothing to do with this story, and dogs are taken out back after they’ve been sheltered for a specific period of time. Yeah, this story is the worst, but the mayor has forbidden all euthanizations until an investigation is complete.
Here’s a news video of the conditions inside this shelter. Poor pups.
(Via KRMG & Fox 23 in Tulsa)