The Humane Society of Lawton - Comanche County has received many calls from people who are under the impression that our organization is affiliated with the City Animal Shelter. Hence, we wish to clarify the mission, goals and objectives of our organization.
The Humane Society operates on tax-deductable donations, membership dues, and fundraisers. Our organization receives no public funds, and has no formal affiliation with the Lawton Animal Shelter. Our primary mission is to educate the public about the necessity of spaying and neutering their domestic pets, and to assist those individuals who are low income and have limited resources to spay and neuter their companion animals. We are NOT primarily a rescue organization because we do not own or operate a shelter. However, we do have some animals which are available for adoption, that are being kept in local foster homes. We require an adoption application to ensure that these animals are placed into good homes, and an adoption fee of $85.00 for cats and $100.00 for dogs, which goes to defray the expense of sterilization, vaccinations and fostering.
The City Animal Shelter euthanizes over 4300 cats and doges each year. These numbers should be of great concern to the citizens of Lawton because not only is it inhumane, but it is also a vast waste of taxpayer dollars. These unfortunate animals die because their owners do not have them spayed or neutered and abandon them without concern for the suffering that they will endure as they struggle to survive.
The Oklahoma Anti-Cruelty Statute, Title 21, part 7, Chapter 67, Bill 1685, clearly states that any animal abuse, mistreatment or negligence, is considered a felony and penalized by law accordingly. Isn't it ironic that we seldom hear about people convicted of animal cruelty, but there have been several instances of people fined and prosecuted for feeding abandoned and hungry animals?
Irresponsible pet owners are the ones that are responsible for this cruelty and negligence, and in the long run, both the animals and the taxpayers pay the price. The Humane Society of Lawton-Comanche County believes that spaying and neutering healthy animals is the obvious first step in the solution to the problem of the over population of unwanted pets in our community. The Humane Society is a small organization, which will continue to work towards a solution to the problem, but we can not solve the problem alone. It is also the responsibility of pet owners to do their part in helping to control the population by having their pet spayed or neutered.
