Enes Kanter’s eyes grew wide with shock when he heard the numbers. To him, and many in Oklahoma City, the figures were unbelievable.
“I was speechless when I heard it. It was amazing,” Kanter said.
Kanter stood, arms folded and eyes locked on Julie Bank, Superintendent for Oklahoma City Animal Welfare, as she described that the Oklahoma City Animal Shelter rescues 24,000 animals every year and currently houses 700 on its property. It’s not just dogs and cats that fill the rooms in the shelter, but even horses, donkeys, a pig, a goat and a fox. If any animal is injured or clearly in a bad position, the doctors at the shelter restore them back to health.
On Saturday, Kanter had a chance to show his appreciation for the job everyone at the shelter does to care for animals, while scoping out a potential adoption of his own.
“I came here to share the Thunder spirit this afternoon,” Kanter said. “It was really a cool thing to do. I just experienced a lot of things.”
The Turkish center has bounced around the United States for the past six-plus years, arriving in Oklahoma City last winter. He hasn’t forgotten his roots, when he grew up in Turkey with cats, birds and fish. In fact, Kanter explained that the love of animals is deep within his heritage, dating all the way back to the Ottoman Empire.
“It’s a really important thing to me. I want people to come here and adopt animals,” Kanter explained. “It’s in my culture to come here and be with animals, love on them and care about them."
Kanter walked from room to room as a crowd of curious Oklahomans followed to see which animals he might play with next. He first took a tour of the facility, sweeping through the rooms housing dogs and cats, then outside to the barn where the shelter was nursing a pair of mules, a horse, a pig and a goat back to health. On in the field, a handful of horses had room to stretch their legs.
Once back inside, Kanter had the chance to get some interactive time with some of the animals that were ready for adoption. First he played with a pair of dogs who had apparently been thrown out of a moving car, but rescued and nursed back to good physical shape at the shelter.
The gentle, 6-foot-10 post player has never owned a dog, but he grew up with cats so that’s where he was pulled next. Sitting in one of the shelter’s greeting rooms, Kanter was able to take one of the cats in his lap, and it nearly fell asleep in his arms.
The shelter was abuzz with activity due to Kanter’s visit, but it was clear that the lasting mark has yet to be made. With an advocate with the platform the Thunder big man has, the shelter now has an ally who wields influence over a large number of people in Oklahoma City and around the state. The hope for both Kanter and the shelter is to encourage more and more Oklahomans to “find their next best friend” at the Oklahoma City Animal Shelter.
“As a part of the conversation, I learned about the love he has for animals,” Bank said. “It’s a great opportunity for us to have somebody like him come visit and tell the community all about the work that we do and showcase the dogs and cats we have available for adoption.”
“Sometimes people think of animal shelter animals as broken animals,” Bank concluded. “Really these animals are amazing, terrific, wonderful animals who need new families.”
Watch: Kanter Visits Animal Shelter