Second Chance Animal Rescue evacuates animals as building is shut down for mold contamination
Brian D. King | Transcript Staff Writer
Apr 11, 2024
Second Chance Animal Rescue is halting services while it addresses mold issues at its location on 24th Avenue NW.
Rose Grimm, Second Chance director, said its board made the decision to close the building after learning that the site had experienced what she described as a “pretty bad situation.”
“We want to make sure that they don’t compromise the staff or animal safety. So they elected to close the physical doors temporarily to the public, and essentially evacuate the building,” Grimm said.
Currently, patrons are not allowed in the building, and animals are nearly all evacuated.
Grimm said the shelter has had to evacuate 78 animals at the time it received the news. Most of the animals have left for shelter partners throughout Oklahoma and even in other states.
She said not all animals qualify for evacuation, including a cat, which is suffering from a heart murmur.
“We are trying to move the animals out as quickly as we can. Right now, we have a kitty who actually couldn’t qualify for a partner transport because we found a severe heart murmur and the kitty is now in hospice,” Grimm said.
She said for the animals who can’t be transported, it is important for the public to only volunteer if they share the same mission of helping animals and intend to keep them as forever pets.
While Second Chance does not have many animals on hand anymore, Grimm said those who want to help can adopt animals at surrounding shelters, which will be of help.
Second Chance has not announced whether or not it plans to return to the building after remediation is complete, or whether it will seek a new shelter elsewhere.
“We will then be relocating the property out of the building which will need to be sterilized and cleaned,” Grimm said, “Then staff and volunteers will no longer be permitted in the building while we undergo construction.”
She said Second Chance will continue its mission to provide homes for animals.
“Our goal is definitely not to close down. The board does have a lot of decisions to make. They are still discussing whether we are going to keep the building or whether we are going to be remodeling. Right now because there are safety hazards, we take that with the utmost seriousness,” Grimm said.
The report indicated that many different kinds of mold had spread throughout the whole building, and that water had entered through leaks in the roof.
“We do have leaks in the roof that we’ve been working with the insurance company on,” Grimm said. “That has produced a lot of our issues. The building was built in the 1990s, so it’s old and did not have adequate draining installed. It didn’t account for the number of mass quantities of animals that would move through its doors.”
Grimm said Second Chance has processed hundreds of thousands of animals over the last 36 years.
“We definitely filled our capacity for care, and the building could no longer tolerate how much life saving efforts we were able to perform,” she said.
For those who want to help Second Chance, Grimm recommends following its Facebook page, as it uses social media for primary communication.
“I know that we are going to be in need of financial donations to help us feel this project and get the facility better than ever,” she said.
Grimm said the shelter is looking to raise $75,000 which will go toward gutting the facility.
Christopher Hurley, newly-elected board president, said the organization is committed to resolving these issues promptly.
The board will open up more seats on the board, and that it is looking for people from diverse backgrounds who have new ideas on how to move forward. Those interested can apply on Second Chance’s website.
“While we are disappointed by the temporary pause in operations, we remain excited about the ongoing development of the rescue,” Hurley told The Transcript. “We urge the public to apply for board positions, empowering them to actively participate in making a meaningful difference.
Brian King covers education and politics for The Transcript. Reach him at bking@normantranscript.com.
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