Our animal adoption priority policy is partly covered in our Transfer Agreement we have with rescue groups, which we call “Pet Placement Partners” or “PPPs”. Once an animal has been selected for our adoption program a rescue group cannot take it unless the shelter pet has been in the adoption program for more than 14 days. At that point we view the pet as languishing and will allow a PPP to take the animal. We don’t allow PPPs to adopt pets within the first 14 days they’re here because we don’t want them to take advantage of the shelters spay/neuter and medical services. Some of the PPPs would wait until we’d done everything for the pet and then adopt it. We don’t provide health checks, vaccinations, worming, spay/neuter or other medical care to PPPs, so we won’t let PPPs ‘game’ the system by waiting until we’ve done all of the expensive work and then take the pet for a small fee. We don’t have any problems with PPPs over this. If a PPP has committed to a shelter pet and a citizen subsequently expresses interest in adopting the pet, we advise them that the pet has already been spoken for. We place a card on a PPP-selected pet’s cage that identifies the pet as having already been adopted, so there is rarely a conflict. The card does not identify the pet as having been selected by a PPP, so citizens simply move on to the next pet. When we place “holds” on pets it’s usually because we have an owner coming for the pet, or the pet is being held on a dangerous animal or cruelty charge. We don’t allow PPPs or citizens to place requests on animals being held on dangerous cases. Occasionally, a PPP will express interest in such a pet, but citizens don’t see those animals, so they don’t even know they’re here. Any other “holds” would be treated in the same way strays are treated. Once an animal is in the adoption program its first come/first served. If you would like further information, please contact our Animal Welfare Superintendant.Catherine English, Animal Welfare SuperintendantThe City of Oklahoma City405.297.3088catherine.english@okc.gov
