by Heide Brandes
If you spend any time talking with Lesa Staubus, DVM, the fact that she cares
deeply for the welfare and treatment of animals — any and all animals — becomes as clear as a rallying cry. As the new senior program officer at the Kirkpatrick Foundation in Oklahoma City, Dr. Staubus will serve as a veterinary ethicist focusing on Oklahoma farm animals’ well-being.
With almost four million Oklahoma animals living in harsh and torturous conditions such as battery cages and gestation stalls, it’s no surprise when Dr. Staubus gets passionate about her mission to make the lives of farm animals as humane as possible. “The extreme confinement of animals, especially sow pigs, in this state is inhumane,” Dr. Staubus said. “One of the solutions that big meat processors in this state have is to squeeze the cages tighter and tighter. These animals can’t turn around, and some of the confinement is so tight, they can’t even lie down properly.”
Dr. Staubus’ concerns reflect the Kirkpatrick Foundation’s commitment to the well-being of Oklahoma animals, including those raised and slaughtered for food, which made her a natural choice for the position. Before joining the Kirkpatrick Foundation, Dr. Staubus served as a practicing veterinarian, academic, and rescue veterinarian. After she completed her bachelor’s degree in zoology at the University of Oklahoma, Dr. Staubus received her doctor of veterinary medicine degree from Oklahoma State University. She practiced small-animal medicine before returning to OSU-Stillwater, where she served as a clinical assistant professor in surgery and shelter medicine and interim department head of veterinary technology at OSU-OKC.
Finding New Ways To Help Animals
“We were teaching the students all their surgical skills while providing necessary spay and neuter to the animals and shelters and rescues. So it’s really a wonderful learning model. But during that time, I came across the University of Florida’s Operation Catnip program, which provides spay, neuter, vaccinations, and all that to the feral
cat community,” she said. “I brought that concept back to Oklahoma and brought Operation Catnip to Stillwater. That program continues to this day in association with the vet school.”
A grant from the Kirkpatrick Foundation helped to create the 501c(3) organization, which started Dr. Staubus’ long association with the Kirkpatrick Foundation and its executive director, Louisa McCune.
A tip from McCune eventually led Dr. Staubus to a position as an American Humane rescue veterinarian. Dr. Staubus supported communities and their animals after natural and man-made disasters and
reunited retired military working dogs with their former handlers.
“I was with American Humane rescue for six years. It was very, very physical and potentially a little bit dangerous position for me. I decided it wasn’t in my best longterm health interest to work in that kind of a dangerous environment because we’re literally in floodwaters and such,” she said.
Dr. Staubus has volunteered her time and expertise as a board member of the Association of Shelter Veterinarians and is a founding member of the Oklahoma Link Coalition, an initiative that uses multidisciplinary programs, training, and research to educate, prevent, and respond to interspecies violence.
Using the human-animal bond for the betterment of animals and people, Dr. Staubus has collaborated with dog programs in schools and prisons. As a founding member of Common Bonds, she has worked to decrease the number of healthy pets euthanized in Oklahoma shelters. Dr. Staubus also serves on the Common Bonds Oklahoma committee to end the needless euthanasia of dogs and cats in the state by 2025.
Turning Attention to Farm Animals
“I had been talking with my friend Louisa McCune, and the Kirkpatrick Foundation is really turning some attention to the plight of farm animals in our state that are kept in extreme confinement. And when I say in extreme confinement, what I’m talking about are conditions where they cannot turn around or fully extend themselves.”
Sow pigs especially are kept pregnant and in extreme confinement to raise the pork that is being produced.
“From the time sow pigs reach breeding age, they spend almost 100 percent of their lives in confinement so tight that they cannot turn around. And as they grow in age, they can barely even lie down,” said Dr. Staubus. “Then they’re kept in a very tight crate during pregnancy. It’s torture. These
extreme confinement techniques have been outlawed in 14 states now, but not here.”
As part of her new position at the Kirkpatrick Foundation, Dr. Staubus said, she is not asking anyone to turn vegetarian or for companies to stop raising animals for meat production. She simply wants the animals that are raised for consumption to be treated as humanely as possible.
“These animals deserve humane, moral treatment throughout their lives on Oklahoma farms,” said Dr. Staubus. “Kirkpatrick Foundation is the statewide leader in promoting a humane ethic as a key metric for overall healthy communities. We know Oklahomans are extremely supportive of humane values, and I look forward to supporting this work by educating the public.”
The Kirkpatrick Foundation is an Oklahoma City philanthropy that John and Eleanor Kirkpatrick founded in 1955. It makes supporting grants to charitable organizations with a diverse range of programs in arts, culture, education, animal well-being, historic preservation, and environmental conservation.
As part of the Safe and Humane program, the Kirkpatrick Foundation aims to better the lives of animals in an effort to make Oklahoma the safest and most humane place to be an animal by 2032. “Experience and dedication characterize Dr. Staubus’ career. We look forward to her insights with regard to improved treatment and better conditions for Oklahoma farm animals, particularly breeding sow pigs and egg-laying hens” said McCune. “Her outstanding record as a lifelong advocate for Oklahoma animals makes Dr. Staubus a natural choice for this role. Tens of millions of animals will benefit from her expertise.”
For more information, visit https://kirkpatrickfoundation.com.
