By Cynthia Simonds: If your pet is picked up as a stray in Henryetta, it will be taken to the county animal shelter located in McAlester. While this shelter serves all cities in Pittsburg County free of charge, residents outside the county must pay a $50 surrender fee. The shelter is funded by county sales tax dollars and does its best to find good homes for every animal it houses. However, reclaiming your pet as quickly as possible is crucial.

What Happens When Your Pet is Taken to the Shelter?

Once your pet is picked up, it’s important to act quickly. If your pet is microchipped or wearing a collar with tags, the shelter will hold the animal for five business days. If there are no tags or microchip, you have three business days to reclaim your pet before it could be made available for adoption. Animal control officers are trained to check for microchips when they bring in animals, and the shelter also posts all strays on their Facebook page. However, the shelter director strongly encourages pet owners to visit the facility in person to check for their lost pets.
If you cannot visit the shelter yourself, you can have someone else reclaim your pet by calling the shelter and providing the name of the person retrieving your animal.

Why It’s Important to Tag and Chip Your Pet

Pets without collars or tags face a higher risk of not being reunited with their owners. A collar with a tag is the quickest way to identify your pet and ensure they are returned to you. However, collars can fall off, which is why microchipping is highly recommended. A microchip provides a permanent form of identification, allowing shelter staff to contact you directly if your pet is found. Many vets, and animal supply stores like Petco, and Southern Agriculture are able to microchip your dog or cat. There are also public events held by the Humane Society and various rescue organizations that offer this service.

Adopt, Don’t Shop

The Pittsburg County shelter takes in approximately 20 dogs and 30 cats each week. Though they focus on dogs and cats, the Shelter Assistant Director Lloyd Stanton said they’ve also housed everything from ferrets to rabbits and birds.
The Humane Society of the United States reports “when confined in an animal shelter, cats and dogs experience a wide range of emotions that profoundly affect their emotional health in the short term and may also have long-term impacts. This is particularly true if they become sensitized to people, places or things that trigger their fear or frustration on an ongoing basis, or when stress and its associated negative emotional states are prolonged.

Most of us have witnessed the emotional toll that overwhelming stress can take on people and animals. We have seen situations where we recognized that “he was never quite the same after X, Y or Z happened.” Like people, animals are emotionally sensitive (some more so than others)—and traumatic experiences can sometimes cause permanent emotional scars that may be difficult, or even impossible, to overcome. Indeed, animals’ experiences in a shelter can impact their emotional health for the rest of their lives.” Getting adoptable animals out of the shelter environment as quickly as possible is very important.

Imagine your own pet confined in a shelter. From the moment they enter, the unfamiliar sights, smells, and sounds can be overwhelming. Surrounded by strange people and other animals, even the calmest pets might feel anxious or fearful. Reactions vary—some animals panic and try to escape, others freeze in fear, and some may become aggressive. Many simply appear reserved and uneasy, struggling to understand their new environment.

Life in a shelter can be particularly stressful for animals because they have little control over their surroundings. Basic needs like going outside for potty breaks depend entirely on others. Every day brings unpredictable interactions, leaving them uncertain about what to expect. Over time, this lack of stability can lead to mounting frustration, fear, and anxiety, making it harder for them to cope.

This is why adopting from a shelter is so important—your decision to adopt gives these animals a chance to leave this stressful environment and find a loving, stable home where they can thrive again.

The Pittsburg County Shelter has 70 dog runs inside, 15 outside, and 21 cat kennels, the shelter is working hard to care for a large number of animals. While it is a “kill shelter,” the staff does their best to avoid euthanasia by finding loving homes for as many animals as possible. However, they need your help—whether by adopting a pet, volunteering your time, donating or simply sharing their Facebook posts of available animals with your network of friends to get more eyes on them.
The adoption fee for dogs is $40 which includes the animal being fully vetted, microchipped, spayed/neutered, given flea/tick preventative. You must be 18 years old, and you must adopt the animal in person. So, if you see your new best friend on their Facebook page you cannot adopt it over the phone for pick up later. BUT calling them to let them know you want to adopt the dog and when you will be there is helpful information for them.

How You Can Help

Running an animal shelter is no small task. They rely on donations from the community and when you are a county shelter the support that comes from a large city typically isn’t there. Stanton said there is always a need for supplies such as food, treats, blankets, paper towels, rubber gloves, and cleaning products. You can drop these items off in person during business hours OR add them to your next Amazon order and have the shipped directly to the shelter.

If you’re unable to adopt or volunteer, donating items or funds is a great way to make a difference. Even small contributions can go a long way in providing a better quality of life for the animals and helping them get back home when they are lost.
The shelter also accepts volunteers to help socialize and care for the animals. If you’re interested, stop by the shelter and fill out a volunteer application.

Upcoming Event

If you’d like to support the shelter and meet some adoptable pets, they will be hosting an event on October 12th at McAlester Landscaping. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the shelter, meet animals in need of a home, make a donation, or adopt a new pet.

Final Thoughts

The Pittsburg County Animal Shelter does incredible work with limited resources, but they need the community’s support to continue. Ensure your pets are tagged and chipped to prevent them from becoming strays, and consider adopting from the shelter instead of buying from breeders. Most importantly, spay and neuter your pets to help reduce the number of homeless animals.

Whether you adopt, donate, or volunteer, your contribution will make a meaningful difference in the lives of these animals. Let’s come together as a community to support our local shelter and the burden of serving multiple towns and rural areas. In that effort we can help as many animals as possible find their forever homes.

The shelter address is 1206 N West Street, McAlester Ok 74501
They are open Tuesday-Friday 10:00 am -5:00pm Closed Saturday, Sunday, Monday

The phone number to the shelter is 918-423-7803