Mew MAPS 4 animal shelter to be named after late advocate Louisa McCune

Oklahoma City leaders dedicated the upcoming MAPS 4 Animal Shelter to the late animal welfare advocate Louisa McCune during a groundbreaking ceremony early Thursday.

The $42 million facility, funded through the voter-approved MAPS 4 sales tax initiative, will be called the Oklahoma City Louisa McCune Animal Welfare Center, named after the former magazine editor and philanthropy executive well known for her animal rights activism.

Earlier this week, Oklahoma City Council members unanimously approved the official name for the center, which is expected to finish construction in 2026. The 70,000-square-foot facility will be built on a site behind the current animal shelter at 2811 SE 29, and include four entrances, one for each service: adoption, stray and surrender intake, training and clinic.

Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt, noting that his own dog, Logan, was once a rescue animal, reminded audience members that McCune’s advocacy was largely responsible for ensuring the shelter would receive MAPS 4 funding in the first place.

Rocky, an adoptable dog at the OKC Animal Shelter, stands in a construction worker costume alongside volunteer Olivia Watkins on Thursday at the groundbreaking for the MAPS 4-funded OKC Louisa McCune Animal Center.

Around the time presentations were being prepared for projects that could be included in the 2019 MAPS 4 programming, Holt was uncertain if enough support had been amassed behind the funding and building of a new animal shelter. He told McCune that a new welfare headquarters might have to wait another day.

“Louisa didn’t accept that answer, and she went to work,” Holt remembered. “She began advocating with the council. She created a coalition of support, and really within a week, this thing had done a 180, and now there was more than enough support on the council to proceed with inclusion of the animal shelter in the conversation.”

Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony for the MAPS 4-funded OKC Louisa McCune Animal Center.

McCune died after a hard-fought battle with cancer last August. Along with her executive director role at the philanthropic Kirkpatrick Foundation, she’d served as a board member for the Patrons of OKC Animal Welfare and the MAPS 4 neighborhood subcommittee, where she helped oversee the development of the upcoming shelter.

Saddened by her passing, several community leaders suggested naming the upcoming MAPS 4 facility in her honor, to which councilmembers enthusiastically agreed.

“It speaks not just to her influence on this specific project, but to the work she had done for many years around animal welfare locally and nationally,” Holt said. “That was a great idea.”

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Members of McCune’s family and representatives of the Kirkpatrick Foundation were present at the groundbreaking Thursday. Among them was current foundation Executive Director Kelley Barnes, who reminisced on the further impact of McCune’s PAWS in MAPS 4 campaign.

She argued that human health metrics are directly connected with how society treats animals. The well-being of animals, Barnes said, was McCune’s passion, also reflected in the pillars of the Kirkpatrick Foundation’s mission.

“She said, ‘Where animals fare well, people fare well,’” Barnes said. “Fundamentally, we believe that animal well-being is a critical variable in community health. An animal shelter is an essential piece of the social and municipal fabric of place, much like a fire department. A well-designed and well-funded animal shelter is part of the portfolio of benefits found in a vibrant city life.”

New animal center to be built in two phases

The current animal shelter on SE 29 was built in 1996, when attitudes toward animal welfare were much different. The shelter’s live-release rate was drastically low, thanks to drastic overcrowding, limited public awareness of adoption needs and the use of euthanasia for space at the building.

But following efforts from McCune, former Animal Welfare Division Superintendent Jon Gary, and partner humane organizations over the years, sentiments have changed and animal adoptions have increased in Oklahoma City. And many believe it’s time for a much-needed upgrade, including Councilman Todd Stone, who represents Ward 4 where the animal welfare headquarters is located.

“The hope is that this new facility will really change the way our community approaches animal welfare,” Stone said. “It’s designed to improve the care for the animals, but also improve conditions for our staff and our volunteers.”

The new center will more than double the number of dog kennels to nearly 550, and cat condos will increase to over 300. Site plans also include outdoor play yards covered with artificial turf designed for exercise and socialization, a large training room, an improved pasture, and meeting spaces for events and educational sessions.

It will be constructed in two phases, with the first phase encompassing the main shelter, and the second phase rebuilding the 2,800-square-foot barn and adding more parking space. That phase would then end with demolition of the current shelter.

“What this will do is allow us to make sure that we don’t have a lot of disruption for the animals, and we’ll be able to transition the animals over before we start tearing the old building down,” Stone said.

Oklahoma City officials, staff and community leaders gather around shovels for a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday at the site for the MAPS 4-funded OKC Louisa McCune Animal Welfare Center.

Groundbreaking for animal center a month before new superintendent assumes role

Gary, who also attended the groundbreaking Thursday, retired in December from his 25-year career with OKC Animal Welfare to continue advocacy in San Antonio. The city has since selected a new division superintendent, Ronnie Schlabs, whose 17 years of experience include working for animal shelters in Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska.

But until Schlabs assumes the role in late March, OKC Development Services Director Brock Rowe is filling in. Rowe spent most of his speech Thursday thanking the animal shelter’s staff, volunteers, and partners, all of whom he said do very intense and mentally taxing work in caring for the animals.

Animal welfare workers carry a stray dog Thursday at the groundbreaking ceremony for the MAPS 4-funded OKC Louisa McCune Animal Welfare Center.

He believes a new state-of-the-art facility could transform the experience for both the animals and the onsite staff.

“Sometimes, Animal Welfare’s overlooked, and in this situation it’s not,” Rowe said. “It’s something that is inspiring, and it’s awesome that our citizens care that much about animal welfare. It’s the ability now to change and transform lives of pets and make sure that pets have welfare that they need in taking care of them better.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Groundbreaking for MAPS 4 OKC animal shelter honors Louisa McCune

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