Most rural areas in Oklahoma counties don’t have animal control. There is no one to rescue strays and no shelter in which to house them. April Rogers, who lives near Rentiesville, has seen the grim consequences.

“I’ve seen lots of carcasses,” she said. “We live near the Honey Springs Historic Battlefield, and I’ve seen many dog skeletons in that area.”

The reason for the high death rate is that animals raised around people don’t know how to survive in the wild. That, and the fact that some people have unrealistic ideas about what will happen if they toss unwanted pets out of a car on a country road.

“People really believe that the dog will just find a friendly farm house, or that it will join a pack of wild dogs,” Rogers said.

And, the frequency of animal abandonment has shocked Rogers.

“It’s unreal,” she said. “Last month we found one litter of seven puppies, a momma with five puppies, and two adult dogs. And, there are more cats than you can imagine.”

Muskogee County Sheriff Charles Pearson said something will have to change within the next five years.

“The people in the county deserve and need to have animal control,” he said. “They’re considering a bill at the state capital that would make it so smaller counties can have animal control. I just hope it isn’t one of these unfunded mandates. The county commissioners can’t afford to give me any more money.”

Pearson said the problem with stray animals is worse in areas like Gooseneck Bend, Oktaha and Wainwright, where many homes have been built.

If the county was allowed to have animal control and funding was available, Pearson said it would be a big job.

“We would have to run two shifts, and the shelter would have to be as big or bigger than the one in Muskogee,” he said.

Pearson said he and his wife have tried to help when they were looking for pets.

“We got a couple of animals from PAWS (Promoting Animal Welfare Society), and we got one from the shelter,” he said. “We tried to do our part.”

Dorothy Farmer, executive director for PAWS, passionately defends the right of animals to be treated humanely.

“Unless you have feelings and truly are compassionate, you probably shouldn’t have a cat or dog,” she said. “There will be feed bills, vet bills and accidents will happen.”