BARTLESVILLE, Okla. — The Washington County SPCA board voted Thursday evening to resume operations in their recently flooded shelter in Bartlesville.
“We felt like this was the right decision for the safety of our animals and employees,” WCSPCA Board President Darlene Shoemake said. “Our temporary shelter simply couldn’t safely house the animals long-term.”
SPCA staff and volunteers have spent the last week cleaning and sanitizing, removing moldy drywall and throwing out ruined items.
Rising floodwaters prompted a middle of the night evacuation on May 21.
The cat building had nearly two feet of water in it, and nearly all of the cat supplies were destroyed, including the cat trees and seating in the cat adoption area.
The volunteers and staff were able to rescue all the animals, but had to leave many of the supplies behind.
Since then, the WCSPCA has been operating a temporary shelter out of their spay and neuter clinic building.
Plans are underway to build a new shelter in the near future.