Stephens County Humane Society

Welcome to the website of the Stephens County Humane Society. We are very proud of the service we provide to Stephens County, Oklahoma and the wonderful animals we adopt into their forever homes across the country.

If you are looking for a new family member - please, think Shelter Pets first!!

SCHS is a 501(c)3 charity and all donations are fully tax-deductible to the extent of federal and state tax laws. We exist solely through the generous donations of our supporters. We can't exist without you! Please consider a donation to the SCHS or an adoption of one of our wonderful animals. But above all, have your pet spayed or neutered. Help prevent the overpopulation of cats and dogs! We dream of a day when there will be no more homeless pets!

Who We Are

We are a Humane Society and Rescue organization serving Stephens County, Oklahoma and it's communities. We work closely with local municipal animal control departments in providing shelter to abandoned, abused, and surrendered animals, and finding homes for as many adoptable pets as we possibly can. We stress spaying and neutering as the one key way to prevent unwanted puppies and kittens. Overpopulation will only be eased through effective spay and neuter practices.

We have several area veterinarians who assist us with low cost spay and neutering for animals that pass through our shelter. Spay/neuter costs are included in our adoption fees. Also included is heart-worm testing for dogs, and feline leukemia testing for cats, a rabies vaccination as required by state law, and age appropriate vaccinations. Our adoption fee for dogs is $100.00. The adoption fee for cats is $75.00. A complete bargain for getting a healthy new member of the family who will be eternally grateful that you are giving him or her a Forever Home.

Waiting Patiently for their New Leash on Life

All of our animals are precious and all are equally deserving of Forever Homes. We do not have higher adoption fees for full-blood dogs, because in our line of work, that is just not important. Large, small, pure-blood, pure-mix - doesn't make any difference to us. Other than the special discounts we offer for some of our harder to place dogs, i.e., those who are older, have special needs or are victims of the Black Dog Syndrome, all are dogs are equally loved and equally worried about.

Black Dog Syndrome

Remember Black Beauty? Come visit our canine Black Beauties. We highlight our black dogs with an extra discount as our answer to the Black Dog Syndrome. Visit with our staff about the 50% discount for our black or predominantly black dogs. The phenomenon known as Black Dog Syndrome is real & it is regrettable. Read more about Black Dog Syndrome & then come see some of our beautiful, black-coated dogs!

Our Position on BSL

BSL - Breed Specifc Legislation. There are all kinds of slogans out there and we have heard them all. We are not going to defend our position on BSL using a bunch of slogans and poster phrases. We will tell you straight up and flat out - SCHS opposes any form of Breed Specific Legislation. And we defend our position based on real-time, personal, hands-on experience day in and day out at the Shelter. Let's not ignore the elephant in the room - when people talk about BSL, they are primarily talking about the Bully Breed dogs - specifically Pit Bull Terriers. We will agree that this breed has been misused, over-bred, inbred, manipulated and mistreated. We will never agree that - as a breed - it is bad and should be categorically banned simply because it is. We have seen too many wonderful, friendly, sensitive and eager to please Bully Breeds (of all types & combinations), Rottweilers, Doberman Pinschers, Chow Chows and German Shepherds to ever support any kind of legislation that would limit or restrict a person's right to own one - and the dog's right to live.

The aforementioned breeds are strong breeds and they need to be properly placed. No question about it. As do ALL dogs. There is no one breed of dog that can be said to be 'perfect' in all situations. Even America's most beloved breed - the Labrador Retriever - the beautiful, affable & easy to get along with Lab needs a job to do, needs structure and regular exercise or he will become destructive, hard to handle and a trrouble-maker within the family.

So, what do we support? We support education. We support proper placement of a breed type with the family it is joining and the environment and job it will have within that family. But mostly we support spay/neuter laws. Until shelters and rescue facilities are empty and their employees are flipping through catalogs with nothing to do, we will call for spay/neuter legislation. There are too many Bully Breed & Bully Breed mixes; Shepherd mixes, Rottie mixes, and so on ... and the supply will always exceed the demand.

BSL is not the answer. Education, responsible ownership and spay/neuter regulations ... that's the answer.

(The picture is Peanut, a wonderful, active, curious & full-of-life, young Bully Breed adopted out of the SCHS Animal Shelter. One of many.)

Feral Cat Spay/Neuter Project

The SCHS is part of an exciting project that will save the lives of homeless cats throughout Stephens County by provding access to a spay/neuter surgery in a safe and humane environment. At the same time, cats also get a rabies vaccination as well as a vet check-up to verify general health. This project is made possible by a grant from PetSmart Charities who has collaborated with the SCHS to improve public health and manage the feral or wild cat population throughout our area.

The Trap-Neuter-Release program began in March 2010. Volunteers trap cats in areas that have a high volume of homeless cats and will continue each week throughout the year. We hope to impact the number of free-roaming cats and reduce the unwanted cat and kitten population in our County. As of the end of April 2012, over 500 cats have been altered, vaccinated for rabies and released back to their location.

Our thanks to PetSmart Charities and to all of our Volunteers whose dedication and hard work are making this program a success. We'll keep you posted as to our progress.

Kuranda Beds

THANK YOU, SCHS SUPPORTERS, for your wonderful gifts of Kuranda Beds! We have received a full complement Kuranda beds through the generosity of our SCHS friends, members & donors! Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!! We have some very happy dogs !

We are trying to out outfit our entire kennels with the wonderful, safe & indestructible Kuranda Beds & with their generous Donate a Bed program, you can help! If you would like to donate a bed at a special wholesale price and help a dog sleep in comfort, please donate a Kuranda dog bed.

Cats, too! Kuranda also makes beds for cats & we would love to have some of these wonderful beds, also. So, if you would rather, donate a Kuranda cat bed. The cat beds come in sets of two - what a bargain!

How to do it? Couldn't be any easier. The link: Kuranda dog bed will take you directly to the SCHS "donate a bed" page. Click the big Donate button & you'll be taken to a page where you will see the beds we have selected and the special Donate a Bed pricing. Complete the information & the beds will be shipped automatically to us!

Board Members: Destiny Barker Ahlfenger * Laurie Baldwin * Ula Karen Brenneis * Max Daughtrey * Robin Emerson * Michael Harris * Sarah Johnson * Kelly Nelson * Kelly Place * Peggy Perdue * Megan Sanner * Carol Ann Stevenson * Patti Whitaker * Colleen Whitfield * Floyd Wininger