Ohio pet rescue group making life better for shelter animals
A pet rescue group in Ohio is making life better – and in many cases possible – for dozens of dogs and cats in the county’s animal shelter.
Supervisors Chairman Andy McCready brought up the situation at the animal shelter during Monday night’s Board of Supervisors meeting during a discussion on donations to the shelter.
McCready said it had been learned that possibly as much as $2,000 in donations to the shelter had incorrectly been “rolled into” the county’s general fund by mistake.
“Obviously that money was donated specifically to the animal shelter, and we’ll make sure that it gets back to the shelter,” said McCready.
McCready said the shelter has recently been the beneficiary of the efforts of a pet rescue group in Ohio.
“Apparently there is a shortage of pets in their area of Ohio and they have been coming down here once a month to pick up cats and dogs,” McCready said.
“In late December they came down and picked up 60 cats and dogs, and this month they picked up another 30 or so dogs,” he added.
McCready said members of the Ohio group say once they bring the animals to their facility, they’re usually adopted out in less than a week.
“At the shelter today, it was actually quiet in the dog kennels,” McCready said. “All of this has resulted in the saving of a lot of pets’ lives. Last year, there were about 640 dogs picked up or turned in to the shelter. Of that about 35 were eventually euthanized. That’s less than five percent. When I first came here several years ago the rate was about 90 percent.”
McCready said some in the community are bringing older dogs, or dogs that have life-ending diseases to the shelter because “for whatever reason they can’t bring themselves to take the dog to the vet and have them put to sleep.”
Staff, he said, does what they can, but some of the animals “are on their last legs.”
“It’s a real credit to our animal shelter in that we have come so far in being able to save so many animals,” McCready said.
He noted that in order for the Ohio group to transport the animals across the state line, there must be a health certificate on each animal. That means a vet must come in and provide the health certificates.
McCready said while that brings a cost to the shelter, there are also savings to be had in food and cleanup costs when the animals are sent to Ohio.
“And it puts dogs in a loving home,” he said.
By MIKE WILLIAMS, The Patriot