Displaced Pets Moving Out Of Tulsa Expo Square

Historic flooding across Green Country not only displaced families but also their pets.

Many who evacuated got out with their animals, but then had nowhere to keep them. The City of Tulsa set up an emergency shelter at the Tulsa Fairgrounds to keep those animals.

However, now that floodwaters are cleared out, the temporary shelter has packed up as well and dozens of animals still waiting to go home.

Emergency Animal Shelter At Tulsa Fairground To Close 

“We didn’t know what was going to happen,” Tulsa Animal Welfare Manager Jean Letcher said. “We didn’t know how extensive the flooding would be.”

After holding around 250 pets over two weeks, the temporary emergency shelter is now closed. At one point, 198 animals were at the Fairgrounds Pavilion. On Wednesday, they were down to about 60 pets still waiting for their owners to pick them up.

"Those are mostly people that truly were flooded out, they're trying to clean out their houses, they're looking to see what their options are, “ Letcher said. “We're hoping most of those animals will be able to get home at some point."

Tulsa Animal Welfare and the Humane Society of Tulsa have a lot of help with the transition. Tulsa SPCA, HEART, Red Rover, ICAW and other organizations are all lending a hand.

Norm Rosene and his wife came from California to volunteer.

“We got done with the 'Camp Fire' in our own backyard over the winter. We had the opportunity to come out and help with the flooding that’s going on here,” said Rosene.

Volunteers are working hard to take care of pets before they can be reunited with their loved ones.

"There's nothing like a reunion between an animal and it's owner after several days. It's just wonderful to see and that helps keep us going," said Rosene

Those pets still waiting for a reunion are being held in a facility managed by the Humane Society of Tulsa now. If you are looking for a lost pet or a stray, it won’t be held there.

The Tulsa Animal Welfare is holding all lost and unowned pets in their kennels. They are open until 8:00 PM every night through Saturday, June 8^th to help people find their lost pets.