April Rogers of Rentiesville recently adopted a dog from the Muskogee Animal Shelter.

She does animal rescue and first thought she would find a new home for Tonka, a huge husky or malamute mix.

She’s found that new home — in her home. Rogers said she’s had Tonka for a week, and the family is already attached to him.

If Rogers or someone else had not rescued Tonka from the shelter, he could have become one of the 40 animals euthanized at the shelter last week and one of three to four million animals euthanized each year throughout the nation, according to statistics from the Humane Society of the United States. According to shelter records, of the 2,333 animals picked up in Muskogee in 2006, 1,715 dogs and cats were euthanized, 328 were reclaimed and 298 were adopted.

The HSUS calls pet overpopulation in America a crisis.

The problem forces communities to spend millions of taxpayer dollars trying to cope with the consequences of the pet surplus, an article on the HSUS Web site. These costs include investigating animal cruelty, humanely capturing stray animals, and sheltering lost and homeless animals.

Coins 4 Critters, a local volunteer group that helps with animal rescue, has a good relationship with the Muskogee Animal Shelter, said Jackie Mabe, Coins volunteer.

“Adoptions are up, and euthanizations are down,” she said. “Even if the animals are unadoptable, they will get two meals a day and treated with respect before they are euthanized. The shelter is trustworthy and getting more so every day.”

City Clerk Pam Bush, who oversees the city animal shelter, said improvements are planned at the facility.

“We are going to make some outside runs where the dogs can get fresh air and sunshine while we are cleaning and disinfecting their cages,” she said. “We’re planning eight runs with each one being about 20 feet long. We’ll let them out two or three times a day.”

Bush said she and the shelter staff have both long-term and short-term goals.

“Our ultimate goal is a no-kill facility, but there will probably always be a few animals that are too sick or injured to help,” she said. “We’re educating the public on neutering and spaying, and asking them not to let their animals run loose.”

Another part of the plan is to show the public how many desirable pets are waiting for a good home.