Tahlequah City Council approves donations from Cherokee Nation, Petco Love

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — Tahlequah City Council approved donations from the Cherokee Nation and Petco Love.

The money will provide free vaccinations for pets at clinics in several counties across Oklahoma.

FOX23 spoke to the Cherokee Nation deputy chief and Tahlequah's mayor to learn the difference this will make.

When it comes to vaccinating animals that are up for adoption or even your own, it costs money.

It also costs money for those clinics to provide that vaccine for your pet.

On July 1, the City approved donations of $13,000 from the Cherokee Nation and Petco Love.

Tahlequah Mayor Suzanne Myers said the contribution is to help combat the problem for clinics within the area.

"The contribution from the Cherokee Nation as well as from Pets For Life and PetCo Love help for rabies vaccinations and go toward any kind of animal care that they can administer during those visits," Myers said.

Cherokee Nation Deputy Chief Bryan Warner said this mission came to life in 2021.

"You start to take a look at what was happening in 2021. You're still in the heat of the pandemic and many of these animals, haven't been forgotten, but some of the regular upkeep had been kind of gone to the wayside. We saw an opportunity to partner with the group that already had that heart for the animals," Warner said.

With the collaboration of Cherokee Nation and Petco Love, Pets For Life can vaccinate at least 250 animals at seven out of the 14 county pet clinics in the state of Oklahoma.

Those seven counties are Washington, Ottawa, Adair, Delaware, Mayes, Sequoyah and Cherokee counties.

Warner expressed that this is a public health issue.

"Not just for the animals, but importantly for the humans that live around these. We want everybody to understand within these city limits everybody is safe, everybody is compliant," Warner said.

The Pets For Life program will be heading to Mayes County fairgrounds next month for the Love Pet Clinic to offer free vaccinations for animals.