Owasso Animal Shelter investigation clears facility of wrongdoing, offers improvement recommendations

The attorney investigating the Owasso Animal Shelter has found no illegal activity or wrongdoing. 

Julie Henson presented her findings to Owasso's City Council Tuesday night.

Why was an investigation started?

The two-month investigation started after several people in Owasso accused the shelter of illegal activity.

What else was presented in the investigation findings?

Henson made recommendations to improve the shelter.

She says the shelter can improve its social media presence to get the animals more exposure, so they have a better chance of being adopted.

She also recommends that Owasso's shelter create stronger relationships with surrounding shelters to increase the chances of survival for the animals in the shelter.

Henson did say the euthanasia rate is too high, and the number of animals leaving alive is too low. The city agrees and says it wants to fix that.

What was the reaction?

The city council wasn't surprised by the results of the investigation and said improved policies and procedures are already in place.

"She talked about some customer service issues," Chris Garrett, Owasso City Manager, said. "We did see that one coming, but some of the other things that she just happened to come across in her investigation, we already recognized as well. So, that's why we were already moving forward on many of those things."

People who came to the meeting to learn about the findings are glad the shelter's issues are being addressed, and hope it will keep improving.

"I very much think that they are capable, and I really hope that they do continue to make the changes," Skyly Poorboy said. "I've seen a lot of progression in the last couple of months, but there has been a lot of noise and attention around the subject. So I just hope that even if the noise and attention dies down, that they continue on the path that they're on."

When will the findings be made public?

The findings should be released to the public in the next two weeks.

How can you adopt?

The Owasso Animal Shelter now has a Facebook page where people can check out animals available for adoption, or you can visit their website.