Several local animal rescues are hoping to point voters to Tulsa city council members who support animal advocacy ahead of Tuesday's election.
One local rescuer said officials aren't doing their part to help manage the city's animal welfare issue.
Andrea Kyle with Paws in Need said that many in the animal rescue community are suffering from financial, physical, and emotional burnout.
"We tired. we're exhausted we're running out of resources. We need the city to do its job to enforce the ordinances that already exist," Kyle explained.
Ordinances like the ones requiring all cats and dogs over 6-months-old to be spayed or neutered, or rules on handling loose animals and vaccinating pets.
Rescuers said they're also struggling due to a severe staffing shortages at Tulsa's Animal Welfare.
"There's not enough animal patrol officers right now at Tulsa's Animal Welfare to respond," Kyle said. "And even if we tell them 'hey there's this person doing this,' they don't come out and ticket anybody."
Kyle says the animal welfare issue will only get worse if the city continues to put it on the backburner.
Healthy Animals Healthy Tulsa, a collaboration of 11 animal rescue agencies, has developed a survey interviewing Tulsa city council members on where they stood animal advocacy ahead of Oklahoma's primary runoff elections tomorrow.
