City animal shelter inadequate to meet its growing demands

Twenty or so years ago, a marmalade cat named Clyde huddled in the back of the first upper cage on the left at the Norman Animal Shelter. The room where he was held was dimly-lit and smelled of disinfectant and other, less pleasant, things.
The woman who had come looking for a cat walked right past his cage, her glance raking over him and away, dismissing him immediately. She did not see the cute white bowtie marking across his face or the intelligence in his gold-green eyes.
Clyde was 8-years-old and had lived a good life, residing with his female owner in Brookhaven and being treated regularly by a veterinarian.
But a sudden change in circumstances had dramatically altered his fate mid-life.
The woman paced in font of the three cages on the end, ignoring Clyde altogether.
“Is this all you have today?” she said.
The shelter employee walked over and opened the door to Clyde’s crate and reached in to stroke him.
“This is a nice, healthy cat,” he said.
And that changed Clyde’s fate again.
Clyde was adopted that day and went home to a new life and a new name. He lived for several years with a family who adored him.
Clyde was adopted prior to the addition of Norman’s Pet Adoption Center, but the cage he once occupied is still at the city’s animal shelter, and cats still sit in that same cage awaiting their fate.
The luckiest cats get to move forward from the old part of the shelter to the adoption center which was built to be a more cheerful environment for people looking to find a pet to take home. But nearly all of the cats and dogs at the Norman shelter are housed in double-stacked kennels in an aging facility that badly needs to be upgraded.
Shelter Director John Bowman said as the pet population continues to grow, more animals will have to be euthanized. Improvements are needed in order to prevent the spread of disease and to bring the center up to national standards.
Last week, a dozen puppies were put down at the shelter in approximately five days due to canine parvovirus, staff reported.
In the adoption center, a section of dog cages allowing access to the outside has resulted in happier dogs who eat and sleep inside and “do their business” outside, serving as natural house training, Bowman said.
In most of the cages, however, animals defecate within the same area where they eat and sleep.
And shelter staff must try to clean and sanitize that mess as best they can.
“There are no true standards for shelters,” Bowman said.
But the Association for Shelter Veterinarians has established “Best Practice” and “Not Acceptable” guidelines.
“Some of the practices that we’ve had are not acceptable to them,” Bowman said.
Double-stacked cages are one of the biggest issues.
“It’s not illegal, but it’s not right,” Bowman said.
If the stacked system currently in use is eliminated, more animals will have to be euthanized.
“We try our hardest to work with rescues to turn our animals as fast as we can, but we have to pick and choose what lives and dies.”
Making those choices takes an emotional toll on his staff, and that problem is only going to get worse, he said.

“I’m either going to have to euthanize more, or you’re going to have to give me more space,” Bowman said.