City, supporters speak out about Breaden situation at meeting

Tuesday night’s Lawton City Council meeting centered much of its discussion over the recent abatement issues involving the property of Wallie Breaden, who operated Breaden’s Wildlife Rehabilitation Center for over 50 years from his home at 1908 NW 66th Circle.

A week prior, the City of Lawton’s animal welfare division, in coordination with Lawton police, neighborhood services, and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation went to his home and conducted the removal of items from Breaden’s yard. The endeavor resulted in two owls, two raccoons, a Canadian goose, two domestic geese and six roosters in Breaden’s care being taken. The geese and roosters are now living at Lawton Animal Welfare. The other animals are under care of the Medicine Park Aquarium.

The Council discussed the issue in two phases: abatement by neighborhood services, followed by a discussion about animal issues. Many supporters of Breaden spoke on his behalf. He was in attendance but remained seated during the session.

Jonathan Jernigan, on behalf of Safe and Clean Neighborhood Services Division said complaints regarding the property were issued March 6, 2024, and Sept. 18, 2024, however no action was taken at the time. When a new complaint was received March 3, children were seen playing in a nearby yard and drew concerns resulting in a “rush abatement” for the property.

Jernigan explained that under city code, once an abatement order is issued for a specific address, any subsequent offense can be abated without further notice to the property owner. He said the staff’s intent is not to cause any harm or undue stress, but to enforce city code, to include “enforce cost recovery” (meaning, the property owner will be billed for the time and expense of cleaning up the property).

Multiple problems with the property were identified, including vehicles located in the front yard and multiple past and present neighbor complaints, according to Jernigan.

Ward 8 Councilman Randy Warren said that, outside the city limits, people can say they can do what they want with their property. That’s not true inside city limits.

“This is not the only house out there,” he said, of Breaden’s property. “If you want to do that, you can live in the county.”

City of Lawton Information Director Caitlin Gatlin released images of Breaden’s yard to the media last week. They were shown during the meeting as well.

Jernigan said the City’s end of the cleanup was completed Friday and they were due to return to inspect the property this week. Over the weekend, dozens of volunteers joined Breaden in clearing out any remaining items outside the home and cleaning up the property. The City is now preparing an invoice to bill Breaden for its role in the effort.

Cliff Blasengame, superintendent of Animal Welfare Division, offered his report of the situation. On March 3, complaints of rat infestation and dead animals on the property were received. No one was there when an inspection was made but photos and a notice were left, he said.

The next day, Blasengame said he he contacted the city prosecutor and showed him pictures of what was there, to include deceased animals in trash can. The city prosecutor said he needed abatement order; he was unaware at the time that neighborhood services already had one. The Lawton Police Department Criminal Investigation Division were asked to document property with pictures and the state game warden was contacted about the situation.

Breaden received three citations: nuisance, keeping exotic animals and keeping domestic birds. Posted notice on property.

Breaden was very cooperative, to animal control and to the game warden, Blasengame said several times.

One of problems is that Breaden doesn’t have local, state or federal license to be wildlife rehab specialist. Blasengame said while he has known for years that Breaden works with wild animals, he wasn’t aware until last year, when he took over animal control division, that Breaden didn’t have a license. Animal control officers were no longer allowed to bring animals to Breaden once Blasengame had that information, he said.

Blasengame said that Breaden has been offered the opportunity to come to work as a volunteer for both the animal shelter and the aquatic center in Medicine Park.

Defenders of Breaden spoke up for the long-time go-to person when a wild animal was found in need.

Heather Kimball, a family friend of Breaden’s for years, said that Breaden’s property is a wildlife rehab center; the animals brought there are not healthy. The dead animals found were used to feed the raptors and, a lot of times, Breaden either picks up roadkill or is called about dead animals, which he collects to feed to his raptors.

“Animal control used him. A lot of times,” she said, explaining animal control often brought him damaged animals and asking whether the logs of those calls could be made public.

Kimball said Breaden’s understanding is that those previous cases in 2024 were closed and everything was okay. She noted the amount of personal property that was taken from the house during the cleanup, including his father’s Vietnam uniform and his outdoor window air conditioning units. Things stored outside included items kept by this late mother that she didn’t want to throw away. Those things were thrown away during the city cleanup, she said.

“He didn’t even realize it until they were gone,” she said. “This has broken him.”

Gary Arnold addressed the council. He said he wasn’t criticizing the city’s action, “the law is the law.” He did, however, criticize “how you smeared a member of the community” who has said publicly how hard it is for him to ask for help.

Arnold also questioned whether there are mental health issues at play, saying that Breaden is “depressed and overwhelmed.”

A change.org online petition calling for Breaden to be allowed to renew his license in order to be able to handle wildlife and for The City of Lawton to allow him to continue running Breaden’s Wildlife Rehabilitation Center has garnered 1,703 signatures since its establishment a little over a week ago. The petition can be found at: https://www.change.org/p/wallie-breaden-license-renewal?utm_source=Local-media&utm_campaign=Lawton&utm_content=Animal-Rights&utm_term=500-1000&utm_medium=Local-petition.

A GoFundMe account established to raise money to get Breaden air conditioning units for his home has raised $2,480. Other members of the community have been making donations and conducting fundraisers for his benefit.