For some people, stray animals are nothing but a nuisance. However, to many concerned citizens these strays are God’s creatures that need love, shelter and food just like every human does. This is why a local teacher Lori Powell decided to do her part to help the poor strays that were being picked up and taken to the City of Eufaula pound.
“I spoke with local city authorities and asked them to contact me each time they picked up a pup – young or old,” Powell said. “Ricky, who works for the city and also picks up the strays when someone reports them, has started taking pictures of the pups and sending them to me. Then I share them on social media, call friends and do whatever I can to find them forever homes.”
The sad truth is these fur babies never asked for this hard life. Unfortunately, they are simply products of owners not understanding the importance of spaying and neutering their pets. According to Health for Animals, a global animal health association, there are likely over a billion pets worldwide and families in the United States, Brazil, Europe and China alone account for over half a billion dogs and cats.
“Unfortunately, local shelters are literally overflowing and Eufaula only has a pound that keeps them for ten days. So we have to find these fur babies a home fast.”
That’s why the local newspapers, the McIntosh County Democrat and the Eufaula Indian Journal, are working with Powell and the City of Eufaula to help save these dogs from being euthanized.
“The City of Eufaula only has a pound and does not have the manpower or the means to turn it into a shelter,” City manager Jeb Jones stated. “It’s unfortunate but true.”
When someone calls to rescue a dog, the city charges $85 to rehome and register them with the city.
So Powell is now sharing pictures with the local newspapers in hopes to find permanent homes for any dogs picked up by the pound. Thankfully three pups have been rescued in the past three weeks. One female pit mix was rescued by a young lady, Keah Collins, who saw the pup’s picture on the McIntosh County Democrat’s social media page. The pup was named “Dixie” and was more than happy to go to a home where she gets snuggles every night. A week later a veteran from Muskogee came down and rescued another small boy pup and just last week another male pup was rescued by Bradley Shropshire. That pup now named “Fred” is going from homeless in Oklahoma to flying out to Denver for a couple months, then staying a month or so in Cleveland before landing in Phoenix to finally see his forever home.
Powell hopes to keep finding homes as needed and would like to even find some volunteers who might be interested in fostering until a pound pup finds their forever home.
“Because ten days is not very long to get the word out, we are hoping volunteers might step up and offer their services so we can have a backup plan for these pups. Maybe we can get a group of volunteers together who will help buy some food or supplies, or who will foster them until we can transport them somewhere safe or to forever homes. So if anyone is interested in helping please contact our local newspapers and become part of the solution. We can make a difference one pup at a time.”
