Most people living in Lincoln County have seen the posts on social media or the cardboard signs in the Walmart parking lot, usually next to a crate full of puppies.
“Free puppies!”
“Free to a good home!” Then there are the posts about dogs and puppies randomly showing up on someone’s property out in the country. Sometimes, it feels like animals are being dumped every day, even though abandoning a domestic animal on private or public property is a misdemeanor in Oklahoma and can result in a fine of up to $500.
Towns and cities all over the state and country are facing the same problem - an overabundance of pets being dropped off at shelters or, worse, abandoned. About 6.5 million animals enter shelters each year, while only 3.2 million are adopted, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty for Animals. In Lincoln County, there is no county-level animal shelter, though some towns have small ones.
Two local women have teamed up to help fight this problem by starting at the source—affordable spaying and neutering.
Janet Bowman and Janise Baldwin started the nonprofit Lincoln County Spay-Neuter Foundation, which works with vets in the area to provide spaying and neutering at a discount to Lincoln County residents. It’s not a rescue, which the two emphasize, but it is a substantial way that Bowman and Baldwin feel they can help.
“I think one of the important things to know about our foundation is we are not reaching out to only lowincome families or families who are low-income qualified,” Bowman said. “We realize in today’s economy, anybody can be strapped for cash.”
And when it comes to choosing between rent and food or spaying/neutering a pet, many people will choose to pay for food or rent.
“I will tell you that, like, an above 50-pound dog, female to be spayed, it’s like nearly $300 retail,” Baldwin added.
The program works by allowing people to visit their website at lincolncountyokspayneuter.org and create an account. Pet owners must be Lincoln County residents and provide proof of residence. They can then enter their pet’s information and submit an application for spay or neutering, including how much they can afford to pay.
Baldwin, a former project officer in the Air Force who built computer systems at Robbins Air Force Base in Georgia, put her skills to use building the website and system that the non-profit uses. She said they made the entire process online so pet owners wouldn’t need to worry about having a printer.
So far, two vets in the area have said they intend to work with the organization, but the women are working to get more on board.
Both Baldwin and Bowman have a passion for animals and helping. Baldwin said she got the idea to start the foundation after her experience of volunteering with a local non-profit set up to inform residents about the wind turbine projects. She learned the ropes of getting set up with non-profit status with the Secretary of State and IRS and applied that to this group.
Bowman joined Baldwin through a Facebook post offering her help with setting up the organization. The two now call each other best friends and have been working together since August.
The group is now entering fundraising mode, they said. As a non-profit, they need donations and volunteers to survive. So far, everything has been out of the women’s own pockets.
Baldwin said they need volunteers with fundraising and grant-writing experience, and she’s found three that they hope to apply for. They also need more veterinarians to be involved and any civic organizations that would want to partner.
Overall, both think that Lincoln County can do better when it comes to animal welfare, and this foundation is one way to do that.
“Oklahoma ranks third in the United States for nonlive outcome rates, which means they go into a shelter and guess what? They never come out,” Bowman said. “That’s terrible. We can do better than this. And the way we can do better is to spay and neuter… We’re trying to take some of the blame off the owners and help people that reach out.”