The Tulsa SPCA is asking for donations to get their cruelty investigation van back on the road.
The van's poor condition has caused serious delays, which the SPCA says put them behind on 12 animal cruelty cases.
They said it's critical they raise the money to get the van repaired to help Tulsa's most vulnerable animals.
Cruelty investigator Tim Geen says after 10 years of wear and tear the van now has a mind of its own.
“It starts when it wants to," Geen said.
And other times it doesn’t.
“I can't wait until it's fixed," Geen said. "We gotta get it fixed.”
Geen says the van is vital for his work.
“I have to have some help with that to maintain my responsibility to the public," Green said. "Without this, I can't do any of the rescues.”
Within the last year, the van allowed Geen to transport nearly 25,000 pounds of food to hungry animals and report to an average of 6 animal cruelty calls per day.
“I’ve got about 600 cruelty rescues in the city and the county," Geen said.
Geen has been serving the Tulsa SPCA for 12 years and used this van for the past 10.
“I think at this point Tim is very comfortable in this van," said Kyle Paddock, director of communication for the Tulsa SPCA.
“It's just ideal van for my purposes," Geen said. "We wanna fix it and stick with it and see if we can get another 200,000 miles out of it.”
They have no desire to spend the money to purchase a new van.
“We can use the funds that we would’ve spent on another van helping save other animals in the area so that would be a better use of that money," Paddock said.
They have a goal to raise $5,000 in donations based on the estimated costs to repair the van.
They have already reached the halfway mark in donations.
“Any money raised in excess of that will go to other things that we’re doing around campus and things were doing in the animal welfare community here," Paddock said.
They are always accepting financial donations through their website or in person at Tulsa's SPCA campus.
“With this campaign, you're showing him how important he is and his mission is," Paddock said. "A lot of people don’t see everything he does. And this is a way to say thank you to him from a community he has served so well for 12 years.”