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The Government Mule #9 - Sherri Carrier · The Government Mule

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: You're listening to the Government Mule Podcast, a production of the Tulsa County Clerk's Office in Oklahoma.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, welcome everyone to the latest episode of the Government Mule Podcast.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Michael Willis.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your Tulsa County Clerk, and I'm here today with a good friend, a retiree of Tulsa County, and a um a great example of a government mule herself, Sherry Carrier.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: Sherry is the animal services director now at the city of Tulsa, retired from Tulsa County.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: We'll talk about her Tulsa County life here in a couple minutes, but um she retired a couple years ago here from the county and now works over at the city of Tulsa running animal services.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um just as a quick kind of a snapshot, Sherry's gonna talk more about this in a second, but Sherry started here in our sheriff's office, worked there for quite a while, and then moved to the court services division, which we'll spend a little bit of time talking about that because a lot of people probably don't know what the court services division does.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um but Sherry kind of wrote the book on what that looks like here.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: And um anyway, Sherry, thank you for joining us.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, super excited, glad to see you again, your team members here, and feel like I came back home.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: We we started out upstairs in the office, and um Sherry has a great relationship with our payroll crew and several folks in my office.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: So we we did a little bit of home week stuff earlier, and uh it's good to have you back in the building.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um so, Sherry, so you know, one of the things that we focus on in the Government Meal Podcast is really people's path to public service, because I think it's something that's um one of the things we try to do with this podcast and really with this whole effort is um to try to humanize people who are in public service.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: Because a lot of the times people just have interactions with different agencies, whether it's the county clerk's office or whether it's um seeing one of your animal services officers out on the street or whatever.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: And unless they really know who we are and kind of what drives us, they don't really focus on the who, they just focus on the what is going on or or what are these folks doing to help me or whatever.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's what we try to do.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: And um, so I'd love for you to maybe talk a little bit about your path to public service.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um we were talking a little bit earlier about how you grew up in Tennessee and spent some time in North Carolina.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um so give us sort of the the elevator speech snapshot of what got you into public service.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you know, in college I I um kind of thought what pathway I was gonna take for my life, for my career.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: And um when I was younger, I I told my parents I said, I'm I'm gonna be a juvenile judge or a comedian.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: So I think I was actually able to facilitate part of both of those things in my life.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: So very fortunate to be able to do that, but moved here from Tennessee and North Carolina, like you said, and um really grew fond of Tulsa and fell in love with it.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um started my career at the county in in public service when I was young.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it was early 20s.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: My grandfather was actually a chief deputy in Virginia, uh, right on the border of Tennessee.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: So it also kind of you know gave me a little um nudge of what career path I wanted to take when I was growing up.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um started at the sheriff's office.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um very spry, and I think I still had braces when I started.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: And the the jail facilities were very different back then.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: Uh started my career on the eighth and ninth floor of the what we know now is the DA's office at the county building.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: Used to be eighth and ninth floor of the county jail.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: So um I don't know that it was what I expected when I started, but uh I had so much room for growth and so many mentors at the county.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um I I continued and you know, finished school and got promotions and moved up the chain, the ranks at the sheriff's office and held different positions while I was there.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: So did you start as a detention officer?
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: I did.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: I started as a detention officer, a DO, and then worked my way up to go to Cleet, the Academy, and uh became a deputy.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: And then I uh was promoted to a corporal and and a sergeant doing different different activities while I was at the sheriff's office.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I left there, I think, after about eight and a half, nine years.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: Uh went into a role with the Court Services Division for Community Sentencing, which was a program that partnered with the state of Oklahoma and Department of Corrections.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: And um that really gave me an insight of justice involved citizens and um not that you know everybody that goes to jail is a bad person.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: There are people that have significant issues and problems and um didn't really have as many resources back then as we do today.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: Thank thank goodness we have different programs today to help people get through that.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um those things in their life were you know it might be substance abuse or uh mental health issues.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: I think we're really doing a uh greater uh greater investment in our community and uh much more change than we used to do.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: So that that's awesome.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: Some of the people that I worked with as I kind of moved through the system and finished my career with the community sentencing, and then actually became the director of court services and then um actually the chief of court services before I I left the county.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: But I was there for several years and able to work with so many great people in the court system, the judges, the court clerk's office, um, the programs, the DUI, drug court, veterans court, you know, pretrial staff that we had at our office, and being able to see, you know, individuals coming into the jail.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm so fortunate that I had that opportunity in my career because I could see people come in that were very broken, that needed help, and then see them on the other side two or three years later that they've changed their life, and you know, that's your new next door neighbor that's doing great, and being a part of the community and uh actually got something out of programs that existed here in Tulsa County.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Women in Recovery was a big big program and still exist, and I still talk to those folks at Family Children's Services.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: So just being able to, you know, spend my life at the county, half of my life, and in public service and meeting all these great organizations and great people that um just made significant change to our community and the people in it.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think I could ever um thank them enough for helping me and seeing how things change and people change and the county as a whole and being able to work with all the different offices here.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: It just it's been a great it was a great experience.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: So you mentioned um you mentioned some of the alternative court related programs, and the last guest we had on um here was my friend Judge LaFortan, who I worked for when he was mayor, and we remained friends for all these years.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: And we talked a little bit about um some of those programs.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: I want to do more of that at another time and maybe bring um Erica and um maybe Judge Nightingale in to talk about more of that stuff.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: But from your experience with court services, and and Judge LaFortune, I didn't get a chance to talk to about this that much.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: From your perspective, what what did you think like the recidivism rates looked like for people that went through some of those specialty court programs versus you remember the day before we really had those in place when you were working for the sheriff's office, what that might have looked like?
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe touch on that for just a minute so people can understand.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: I think it was very different.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, even if you had 50% success rate, that's that's awesome.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: But seeing people come in and out, and don't get me wrong, I mean, there are people that I saw throughout my career that kept coming back.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: There's one thing that changes them that gets them into the system, and there's another thing that changes them to get them out.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: It could be a therapist, it could be, you know, a drug court person that's helping them through the system that they see a case manager.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: It could be that they are bringing a child into the world, it could be reconnecting with family members, which reunification is huge for these programs.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: So I think early on in my career, I remember we we started like a I think we had a technical assistance grant for women offender issues, and we talked about all these great things.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: And it took that long to actually make them happen.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: And then when women in recovery came in to play, we we talked about so many things that, you know, how can we do things different?
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how are these women gonna succeed?
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: We can't just put them back to environments that they lived in before and think that they're gonna be successful.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, then came how came housing, or how are we gonna get them to where they need to go to their appointments, their therapy appointments, their court appearances, their job interviews.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: So then came you know, came transportation and all these nonprofit and funders, George Kaiser Family Foundation being significant with women in recovery.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: That's the impact that Tulsa needed.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: Those are the conversations that needed to continue to happen, and and they did.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: And those programs expanded, and you know, the state started learning more, and um it just opened up opportunity for more programs and more opportunity for people that really needed help.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: Cool.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um, you know, we we've talked a couple times about some of the different programs, you know, in Tulsa County.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: We're we've been fortunate to both have for years between, you know, when you were at Court of Services and now we have a a new director.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: I guess she's not that new now, but Mary is at Court of Services now.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: But then we've got Erica, Judge Nightingale, and some of the other folks that are kind of ingrained in the specialty courts area.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: And we support them every year with you know hundreds of thousands of dollars of of county, Tulsa County taxpayer dollars that um we prioritize to put there to go along with some of the grant dollars that come from the different foundations and some state dollars as well, although you know it's becoming more and more difficult to get money out of the state for some of this stuff, and so we've had to supplement that sum in the last few years.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: But um we're really lucky to have that infrastructure of um specialty programs here that a lot of counties in Oklahoma and really around the country don't have as good a setup with the support system as we have here.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: It it really became full circle for me.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I had been at City of Tulsa Animal Services a short period of time when I saw a person that was employed by a rescue who I had seen in the criminal justice system for 10 plus years, and we talked.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: And she said, I have to make sure I get these dogs out every day.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, Okay, she's talking about for enrichment and walks, and she said, I know how they feel, and that to me was like, okay, you just changed my life forever.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, not because I see you now and worked with you, you know, 10 years plus, but I see how you've grown and changed.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and these programs gave you the opportunity to do that, and now you are giving back not only to animals but the community.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: So that changed my life.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: Very impactful.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: You probably got there's probably a number of stories similar to that, but that's a great segue into talking about animal services.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: So after 29 years of service to Tulsa County, I assume you probably hit the rule of 80, so you could retire with our retirement system here.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: What um what what drove you or pulled you over to our friends at City Hall to take over?
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I know you know we can make animal and zoo jokes, and you worked with animals in all aspects of your your career, and now you're just working with the actual four-legged ones.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: But what what what drove you or brought you to the decision to make the move?
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: I've always loved animals.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: Always had rescue animals, special needs animals.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um I knew that the city had a job posting, and my commitment to people, I wanted to make animals my next commitment to transform what I could, what I could be a part of, um, to try and do, you know, anything just a little bit better than it had been done.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: So I kept, you know, thinking about it, and really the thought process was not short.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it was very lengthy for me and a very difficult decision and um kind of a scary one because I was in a place that I loved, but I also knew that um the people that were there with me, my team was very capable.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: And I made the the decision to apply and um start that transition process, but keeping in mind that you know I want to leave, I I thought I left court services better than I found it.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I would love to leave animal services better than I found it when I got there.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: But you can't do that without a great team.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: Court services now and then, great team, great people.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um City of Tulsa Animal Services, we have built such a wonderful team, so many good people there, and so many people that care about animals.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: So um they wouldn't be there if they didn't.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: It's a very hard job, and they come in there every day and deal with the community and try to help people, try to help people navigate problems just like court services helps people navigate problems, but now we're trying to help animals too.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: So um fulfillment is just not the word to use for me for both of my careers, but um I'll never forget them.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: So for people that don't know, I mean everyone knows.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: They might call them the dog catcher, they might see the the the trucks with the with the what's the best word for the equipment you have on the back.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, that comes out and says, you know, City of Tulsa Animal Services or whatever, but um what what all do you all do?
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_01: So um about a year and a half ago, we changed our name from Tulsa Animal Welfare to Tulsa Tulsa Animal Services, and we did that for a reason.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um we don't want people to continually have the same issues.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we don't want people that we're that think we're just gonna ticket them when we go out to their house if there's a call for service.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: But I mean, we go out if there's a complaint, if there is a concern for animal safety, um we go out, we talk to the the citizens here, and we want to try and help them.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, obviously coaching them and seeing if they need supplies, dog food, leashes, harnesses, tie-outs, you know, if they have a broken fence, like what can we do to help or direct them to someone that can help them?
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: If they need animals that are, you know, haven't been sterilized that need spay neuter or vaccinations, like we're trying to be more inclusive and more of a resource to the community because um we are in actually a a crisis for uh population management in our facility, and if we can keep these animals out, that's that's better for us to lower euthanasia rates, uh, which we've done very well in the last three years.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_01: We're we've gone from about 66 percent to trending 82, 83 percent.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um we want to keep that going.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: So, like 83% placement?
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: Uh live release rate.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um we've started new diversion programs.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_01: We're opening a brand new animal facility, hopefully, by the end of the year.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: So there's so much momentum and positive things happening now.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we're hoping to provide more services with another veterinarian that we got in this budget cycle, thanks to mayor's office and city council.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: So um just more services provided to the community and more education rather than you know, we're just coming out there to enforce the laws, which we will if it's necessary.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, that's our job.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um we also have you know investigators that investigate cruelty cases, which is a very sad component of our daily task.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um adoption.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_01: We have large numbers of animals to come out and adopt.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: We have three great coordinators for foster, volunteer, and uh diversion.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: We always need volunteers and fosters, so tell your friends, tell the county.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: Remember that.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: How how how would people um link up to to be a volunteer?
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh they can go online to uh our website, um city of Tulsa.org, um, Tulsa Animal Services, and there's uh a link there to foster a volunteer, donate.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um adoption applications are there, you can view our animals there.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: So one good case we can talk about real quick.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: I just learned this as we were walking through the office earlier.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Kylie Reed, one of our uh um recording clerks at the front desk in my office.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, she signed up to foster a dog, and then Sherry put the twist and arm deal on her, and she uh ultimately ended up adopting that dog, right?
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, very, very sick puppy named Bingo.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um had him in my office a few days, brought in my um um humidifier for him.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um a lot of puppies that are in the environment we're in now.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: Uh sometimes it's very, you know, we have moisture in there.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of sick, sometimes puppies that are together.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um he happened to be a solo, so I brought him out and kept him in there two or three days, started breathing a little bit better.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_01: Our clinic was working with him, and I posted him, I took him home and posted him, and Kylie reached out to me and said, you know what, I'll I'll foster bingo.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: And we thought bingo was gonna be a kind of a little guy, but uh bingo's a big guy now, and uh they love him.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm so happy for her and her family, but that's awesome.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: They got a really cool dog.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome story.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: So, how many um you know, I guess I didn't realize the breadth of what it is you all do.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: I've talked about this before.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: I spent 12 years as a reserve officer for Tulsa Police Department, and um my two least favorite calls were calls that involved kids that had been through crisis or trauma, and calls that involved animals that were in the same shape or situation.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember um you know, we routinely we'd have to call for service for one of your folks to come out and and help us with a call or whatever.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um but in terms of um you know investigations and all that stuff, I guess I didn't even realize that um there was that much activity um within your organization.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: But how so how many employees do you have that work in in your department?
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we just had an increase again thanks to city council and the mayor.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um because we're moving into a much larger facility, we're going from a very old building that's about sixteen thousand square feet to a brand new facility that's about twenty-four thousand square feet.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um we have increased our numbers for team members up to fifty-three, including myself.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: So um Very excited about that.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: We also recently just got word that we got a grant from GKFF for uh the NVES North Tulsa area.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_01: So we'll have two dedicated officers for that area as well.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: So be increasing our team a little bit more.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: But investigations is a part of that.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we do see some things that you really shouldn't see.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_01: So uh but we have success stories that come out of that.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'll give you an example.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: We had a dog named Dooley.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: We found him in a Dooley tire, and he couldn't even raise his head.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like we literally had to bring him back to life, we had to teach him how to walk.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: He had a very significant meal plan, and over several months he flourished, but he was very high strung.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_01: He was uh probably part chow and and pit bull.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um so we sent him to a training facility.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_01: Torchlight Canine, they they give us uh some opportunities for special animals that they will work with.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: And Dooley was there for several weeks.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: And uh we tried to put him in a foster home, and the foster loved him, but it was an apartment, and Dooley kept getting out of the apartment.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_01: So had to bring Dooley back.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: Torchlight said, We'll we'll keep Dooley again, still working with him, and then eventually Dooley was able to find a person that was gonna adopt him and a true success story there from start to finish.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, I can go back to my court services days to say that's exactly what I saw with human beings.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_01: So to be able to see that and now animals is just unbelievable.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's such it's such a cool transition.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you were able to parlay the the things that you picked up and experienced doing your stuff here at the county and take it over there, and it's amazing the similarities that you know you have in people and animals that are in crisis.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_01: And the connection with people on animals is Tulsa is you know, they love animals.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_01: Our our community loves animals.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_01: So just seeing those connections and that bond, and uh it's an amazing experience to see those things.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: Well, talk more about the facility.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: So um I remember hearing the plan for this facility back while we were still dealing with COVID money through the CARES program and the ARPA program.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: And if I remember right, I think we the county sent a little bit of money over.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: Was it like a half million bucks or something we put in for HVAC equipment or something like that?
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we appreciate that because uh our current facility does not have proper HVAC, nor do we have the proper isolation space.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: So new s new facility is very different, thanks to the county and that that fund plus the city.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um this has been 13 years in the works to build this place.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_01: So what a great um start of a you know bright, shiny um building that is cleaner and more inviting for for our community to come in and hopefully get more volunteers, fosters, and get more animals out of there once we get in.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: But um I think for our team, just having that new facility and you know having this momentum and the drive that we do and all these programs that we're creating and the different things that we're trying to do in the community now is uh very different than when I I started about three and a half years ago.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: So we're on the right path and hopefully we'll we'll have that place open by the end of the year and start uh getting animals out of there.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: Can't wait to come see it.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_00: And my daughter, Olivia, we were talking about her earlier, um, is an animal lover, and I've talked to her before about maybe some possible volunteer opportunities, so maybe we bring her over and do it.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: Or you could just bring, you know, all the county people over and maybe they'll leave with a dog.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe a few dogs or cats will leave.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: Sure possible.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: Sure possible.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so you know, you got a new, you got a lot of great things going on.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: I know you all have an incredible team.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um I mean I've worked with some of them before in past life.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um you got a new facility, but lots of challenges with what you do every day.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um maybe highlight a handful of those that people should know about.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_01: So just a couple weeks ago, we kicked off our spay neuter education campaign and this be a good time to roll out the shirt.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: It will, please.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_00: All right, everybody.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody's check out the shirt.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_01: Should be able to see.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: I help fix Tulsa's future, which our clinic team every does.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_01: They have high volume spay neuter.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we have partners that are doing the same.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: SPCA has a great clinic, Spay OK, Humane Society of Tulsa.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: I know um OAA, Oklahoma Alliance for Animals, does some of those too.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_01: So um we've got a veterinarian, Dr.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_01: Kutzweiler, who's jumped on board with Veterinary Services Associates.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_01: Has um she's actually giving us two free sterilization procedures per month for someone that calls in and needs that that we can refer.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_01: So spay neuter is our message that we want our community members to please pass on t-shirt, walking billboard here.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_01: We have bumper stickers too.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we want the community to know and try to educate people, their their neighbors, anybody that has an unaltered pet, that that's the problem.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: That's what's coming in our to into our facilities, unwanted litters, stray animals that are being dumped.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_01: Like these are problems.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_01: So we have, like I said before, there's a crisis for overpopulation and management here in in Tulsa and really the state of Oklahoma and other states as well, but here especially, and we need that message to flow out to our community members, and we're trying to do as much as we can to help, and I know our partner agencies are too, but some of the work we've done and some statistical uh data that we've gathered yearly, we're still about eight to ten thousand spay neoters off of where we need to be in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: So hopefully we'll find some grant funding in the future.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we're gonna be able to do more community low-cost, no-cost spay neuters when we move into the new facility, but we really need the community to press hard and um let everybody know, spay neuter your animals.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: So if if a person has a dog or cat, what should they expect to pay if they go to have a spay or neuter?
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: Whether it's at a private vet or if they come to an SPCA clinic or uh an event or something that's going on at the shelter or the new shelter in the future.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_01: So different vets will charge different prices, and it really depends on, you know, is that male, female, how much does it weigh?
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of factors that go into that.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: Umer cost uh clinic and then and they have those online so you can look and see what's available, vaccinations, whatever you might need to service your animal, uh, preventative medications, those types of things.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um we do have clinics, mobile clinics.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um we work with Humane Society of Tulsa a lot.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_01: Appreciate them so much.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_01: They have two mobile clinics, uh, one's a surgery unit unit, one's a recovery unit, and we partner uh quite a bit when we have the funding.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_01: HST usually gets some funding from uh the Banfield Organization or other organizations, and we try to look at the heat map and hot spots of you know where do we want to target these areas where animals are coming in the most, and then provide the at least a low-cost or no-cost um opportunities for community members to get vaccinations and sterilization procedures.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_01: So follow Facebook, uh follow Tulsa Animal Services, Facebook, Humane Society of Tulsa Facebook.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh those happen more frequent than you think.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_01: And if you make an appointment, keep the appointment, don't cancel it because it's hard to get back in there for low cost and no cost services.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_00: And you're keeping that appointment from somebody else who might have been able to use it.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_01: And I think the other message too is if you want to foster, you want to adopt, anytime you do that, you're making room for the next animal in need.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_01: So that's real important for people to know in our community.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a steady stream of animals in need.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_01: We took in uh over almost 9,000 animals last year.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_00: That's wild.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um so for people that want to foster and adopt, back to the the the cost question.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: If someone just wants to come um, well, we adopt and don't shop, right?
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_00: Remember what we were talking about earlier?
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_00: If someone wants but if someone wants to come shop for an adoption at the animal shelter, what should they be prepared for in terms of what's it cost, you know, what kind of agreements are put in place, those sorts of things.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_01: So we do have an adoption agreement, basically says, you know, you're gonna take care of that pet.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_01: You should really think about and consider before you come and get a pet that that's probably gonna be a commitment for 15 years of your life or more.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_01: So if you can't do that, go to Walmart, go to Target, get a stuffed animal.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_01: You know, don't get the real thing.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_01: If you do want to make that commitment, um you fill out the adoption application, we asked you some specific questions.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_01: We want to make sure animals are being taken care of.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, fortunately for us, we're getting ready to go into Clear the Shelters Month in August, starting August 1st.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, this Saturday, we are going to have a puppy extravaganza if you're looking for a new family pet puppy.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we're gonna open two hours early.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna be open in our kennel areas from noon to six instead of two to six.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_01: So we encourage all the people to come out and do that.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_01: That's on our Facebook too, right now.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_01: If you can connect to Tulsa Animal Services Facebook, you can see those advertisements for clear the shelter, and all month long all fees are waived.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: Nice, all through August.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, and if you decide to foster, we provide everything that fosters need, and we just ask that you bring the animal to events.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_01: Most mostly dogs are coming to events, but bring those animals out, let people see them, promote them online, and try to get them adopted so you can come in and get another foster.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_00: How many um steady volunteers do you all have that foster?
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_01: Uh well, some volunteers cross over and do fostering too.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_01: Our volunteers are amazing, and we have some volunteers that come in every day, every other day, and they do dog enrichment, they get them outside.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_01: We just we don't have the team members, the staff to be able to do that.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they bathe them sometimes, sometimes they help clean clean kennels, they do laundry for us, which our laundry looks very different than your laundry does.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it's a full-time job uh every every single day.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_01: Lots of uh lots of loads of dirty towels and and uh blankets.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um I think our volunteer base is probably anywhere, depending on you know how many people, how many people and how many days they come in, 50 to 100.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_01: We probably have a hundred animals in foster right now.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_01: So again, Tulsa loving animals, our community uh gives us so much, and some of our volunteers, I I just can't say enough about them because they're doing this for nothing, right?
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but they're doing this to help the animals.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_00: So switching subjects just a bit, you know, most people think, including I would say probably most everyone thinks that it's it's about dog catchers and shelters, and you show up to the shelter and they're it's full of dogs and cats and whatever, but dogs and cats aren't the only animals that you all deal with, probably.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_00: What are some of the more uh unique or exotic or whatever you might call non what we wouldn't necessarily think of as domestic domesticated animals?
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_00: So what are some of the ones you all have to see from time to time?
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh loose horses, sheep, goats.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_01: We have a guinea pig in our front lobby right now.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it's amazing to me how many loose pigs can be running in North Tulsa on the road.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um we do have a lead uh ACO, animal control officer, that can wrangle a pig uh just like that.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_01: She's about 100 pounds, but watch out.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_01: Oh man, she's she's ready to get those pigs.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_00: We need to, yeah, y'all need to do some YouTube videos of that.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_01: We need to think about doing that.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_01: So um we do have a contract with a stockyard for the horses, but I think we have right now we have we currently have a pig in our facility.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's not uncommon, um, sometimes very startling when you get there in early in the morning and you hear a rooster crow.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_01: So uh yeah, and it keeps crowing, and I wonder how you're gonna get through the day like that.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not just cats and dogs.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_00: We have a better area for that at the new facility.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um we'll have them more contained and there'll be more soundproof material there.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um this is I think this build building was probably the 70s, something like that.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_01: So a little bit outdated for animal services.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_01: But uh we have some reptiles sometimes.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um and it's amazing to me the you know, the more odd creatures that come in that our team gravitates to and really like falls in love with those those animals.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_01: So and we have partners that you know we can transfer uh injured birds, uh rehabbers.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um Wild Heart Ranch is one.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_01: We work with them quite a bit, injured turtles.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, it's uh it's a lot.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of animals.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, people don't probably think of that.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_01: No, I don't think they do, but and you can adopt those things that come in.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I was gonna say, do you all do a pig adoption?
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_01: We do, we do, and we have some rescues for specific specific types of animals too.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_01: So uh it's amazing the things that you learn about animals when you get into this this type of business.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you know, I just learned a few years ago we had an employee um who used to have a pet pig, and I guess I just didn't really realize that was a thing, but yeah, that has grown in some popularity, I guess.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_01: Pigs are real.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, geez.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, well, I think we can probably get close to finishing up, but maybe before we do, talk a little bit about common misconceptions that people might have about what you all do or your department, or you know, the whole notion of the dog catcher.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um might be an interesting way to start to close out.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_01: So kind of like I said before, I think people think we are when we go out to your house for a concern call, we're gonna write you a citation immediately, and that's not the case.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_01: We're there to help.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_01: And that goes for you know any service that we're providing in that facility.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_01: If you come in and there's a car, uh dog has been hit by a car, like we're gonna we're gonna take control of that right now and we're gonna help that that dog out.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_01: We have a full clinic.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um I would put this team up against any other team in Oklahoma.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_01: They're amazing, um, do a great job.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_01: I think the other misconception is uh if I find an animal, I'm gonna take it to animal services and they're immediately gonna euthanize it.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_01: And that is not the case.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we're trying to save ever every animal that comes in there that we can.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_01: The reality is I know people get really upset about hearing that animals are euthanized, but um I'll give you an example.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_01: If we have eight puppies that actively aren't doing well when they come in and we find out they're all parvo positive, that could be eight potential animals that don't make it out of that facility because they've come in, you know, sick, and we have to do the right thing and humane euthanasia is real.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_01: So those are tough decisions.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's tough when we we have uh overcapacity issues and we have no kennels left, and that's doubled on both sides.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_01: So um not decisions we ever want to make, but um thought process you know goes into a lot of those things that have to take place, and it's a very sad day for us sometimes.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the other misconception is that every animal comes in there and they're just the nicest animal in the world.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's just not the case.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_01: We have some very significant uh animal issues that come in that you know it's a safety risk for our team members, and um we have to make those decisions and make sure that nobody's getting hurt.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_01: So um and I think you know, the most part um the message that that we want people to know is we want to help you.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_01: Like we don't want your animal suffering, you to suffer, we want you to have the resources you need.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_01: We don't want to keep coming back to your house for the same issues, so let's try to fix it the first time so we don't continue those calls and bother you.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_01: So um I think if if people start realizing that more and trusting us more, um we're gonna get get a lot further down the road.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, very good.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_00: Anything that you want to add that we didn't talk about that we need to before we wrap it up?
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_01: I just appreciate you um giving us the opportunity to educate people about animal services and um appreciate our friendship over the years.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I mentioned having mentors in the county, you were one of those.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_00: Oh well that's so very kind, very kind.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_01: Always love seeing your your team members, you know.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um hopefully get to see them them more in the future.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, I encourage you and your team to come out and see us.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_01: You make a day of it.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_00: We need to do that.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_00: We need to get a group and come out and maybe find a day when we can there might be a project we could help with, or and there's also volunteer opportunities for you know county groups.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, or just come out and pet some kittens or puppies and take as many home as you want.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_00: And so so with regard to that, you know, if if our viewers and listeners are interested in, you know, having a an opportunity to take, you know, people from your work or your family out to the shelter, um, go to the website, go to city of Tulsa.org.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_00: You can find animal services on there.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um Call me direct.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_00: Call Sherry Direct.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_01: I can give you my number, it's 918-596-8007.
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_00: 596-8007 for Sherry Carrier, the Animal Services Director.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, once again, thank you, Sherry, um, for I mean, really almost a lifetime of public service, um, which is important to this community, whether it is I've told people many times, I think one of the most thankless jobs in law enforcement is being a detention officer.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where you started.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, worked your way through that, made such incredible gains for us in the current court services arena, set us up for success in the future, which I think we're enjoying now, and then doing what you're doing now, um, which some of your team members I think probably have some of the toughest jobs in public service as well.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_00: So um a bunch of government mules that you are and and some of your teams that you've dealt with, and so we appreciate that.
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_01: I love the the pun too.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for that.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, if you get any mules over, we certainly need to come over and get some photos with it and hang out with them.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_01: I'm calling you and we're gonna create a new t-shirt too.
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_00: So remember everybody, adopt, don't shop when it comes to your animal needs.
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_00: And after you think through it, you know, if indeed you don't think you can do a 15-plus year commitment, think about going to buy a stuffed animal or a robot animal or something like that, other than a living, breathing one.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um I want to thank everyone for listening and viewing this episode of the Government Mule Podcast.
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks again to Sherry.
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, sir.
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_00: And um remember, adopt, don't shop, view Tulsa County on our socials.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you can see us on YouTube, Facebook, Instagrams.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I don't know what all the rest of them are, but um, we're on about all of them.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_00: And you can view Sherry and the City of Tulsa on their socials as well.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_00: And Animal Services has its own uh Facebook handle and probably Instagram and all that stuff, right?
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_01: Correct.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_00: Check that stuff out.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks again for viewing.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_00: We'll be back with another another episode of the Government Mule Podcast real soon.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much.