June 2025

We've had another busy Spring! Our Virtual Annual Meeting was in late March, our 4th Annual Statehouse Day was in April, and our 2nd Annual Leadership Summit was in May. 

A highlight of our Annual Meeting was welcoming our newest members of the Board of Directors, Chalan Lowry from Portage APL, Andrea Kochensparger from SPEAK! For the Unspoken, and Robert Craft from the Miami County Animal Shelter. 

Statehouse Day and the Leadership Summit provided our members with excellent opportunities to come together and further strengthen the Ohio Fed network across the state.

We hope you enjoying reading about these events and more!

2nd ANNUAL LEADERSHIP SUMMIT BRINGS MEMBERS TOGETHER

On May 15 & 16, leaders from animal welfare organizations across the state gathered at Mohican Lodge & Conference Center to talk openly about what is happening in their communities, discuss ways they are currently addressing community needs, share ideas, and lay the groundwork for future collaborations.

Our 2nd Annual Leadership Summit was bigger and better this year thanks to the support of our members and sponsors. We were thrilled to host this important day-and-a-half event, as Ohio Fed is committed to fostering connections among members statewide. We truly are better together! 

Day 1 featured a 2-hour leadership workshop titled: Drama + Tough Talk: Why Drama Happens at Work and How to Stop it, For Real. Our thanks to Rachel DK Finney, longtime animal welfare professional turned consultant and coach, for giving our members tools to help their teams navigate difficult conversations and resolve conflicts in a healthy, productive way.

Day 2 began with a presentation by our Board President Sharon Harvey, CEO of the Cleveland APL, that compared data on animal intakes and outcomes in Ohio to national trends. She provided a legislative update as well. After the plenary session, our leaders broke up into breakout sessions and spent the rest of the day discussing topics that were top of mind in their shelters and organizations. After the breakout sessions, they "shared out" what was discussed so everyone could benefit from the discussions.

Our thanks to our presenting sponsor, Kenneth A. Scott Charitable Trust; NACA/Maddie's for sponsoring the leadership workshop; the Ohio Animal Health Foundation for sponsoring lunch and dinner; and 24Pet for sponsoring breakfast. We couldn't have done it without their support!

We are in the process of surveying the leaders who attended to see how we can improve the Summit in 2026. We hope to see even more of you next May!

This year our Leadership Summit was expanded to a day-and-a-half and included a leadership workshop on Day 1.

Rachel DK Finney talks about how to handle drama in the workplace.

OAWF Board President Sharon Harvey breaks down data comparing Ohio's intakes and outcomes to the national averages.

Our members enjoyed a relaxing lunch at the scenic Mohican Lodge & Conference Center.

ADVOCACY UPDATE

STATEHOUSE DAY

On April 2, Ohio Fed members participated in our annual Statehouse Day by meeting with legislators on both sides of the aisle. We used our time to talk  about the Ohio Animal Welfare Federation and advocate for the passage of SB 60 (veterinary telehealth) and SB 64 (increased penalties for companion animal cruelty offenses). It was a productive day of meetings.

Our thanks to all of our members who made the trip to Columbus: Sharon Harvey and Yvette Nosal, Cleveland APL; Chalan Lowry, Portage APL; Gregory Willey, Friendship APL; Lori Carlson, Licking County Humane Society; Rob Craft, Miami County Animal Shelter; Julie Shellhammer, Allen County Dog Warden; Dakota Snure and Summer Foss, Wayne County Dog Shelter; Jana Cassidy, Humane Society of Delaware County; Amy Bohardt, Montgomery County Animal Resource Center; Scott Mills, Marion County Dog Shelter; and Dr. Laura Advent, Columbus Humane.

Member Benefit: If members would like to receive legislative updates as they happen, please email ohiofedhs@gmail.com and ask to be added to the list for advocacy alerts.

Ohio Fed members preparing for meetings with legislators during Statehouse Day on April 2.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATES

Many animal-related bills have been introduced into committee in the Ohio House of Representatives and Senate, and more are being drafted. Curious about what determines our level of involvement and resources committed to advocacy on public policy issues? Click here to read our Legislative Advocacy Policy.

Here are updates on two bills of interest:

Sub SB 60 (virtual VCPR and telemedicine) – Sub SB 60 was accepted during the Senate Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee’s hearing on Tuesday, May 27. Three proponents testified in person and four provided written testimony. Dr. Laura Advent from Columbus Humane provided in-person testimony on behalf of Ohio Fed. Four other veterinarians submitted written proponent testimony as did Mark Finneran from the Humane World for Animals. Finally, we are grateful that OVMA has moved from opponent to being an interested party. We are hoping the bill will be reported out of committee and move to the floor of the Senate for a vote before the summer break. Click here to read the bill.

Sub HB 247 (dangerous/vicious dogs) – A sub bill has just been shared that is being reviewed. Ohio Fed will provide input to the sponsor and other stakeholders once the review is complete. The sponsor has already addressed an early concern by removing humane societies as a location where the court can order the euthanasia of dangerous/vicious dogs under ORC 955. Additional updates will be provided as we learn more about the bill. Click here to read the bill.

FEATURED RESOURCE

MEMBER RESOURCE DIRECTORY - REMINDER!

We launched the Ohio Fed Member Resource Directory in 2023. We hope that you are using this resource to connect with other members. Find it under the "Resources" tab on our website.

Reminder: The Resource Directory is only as good as the information your shelter or organization puts into it! If you are the administrator for your Ohio Fed organizational membership, please take a couple of minutes to log in to your profile and make sure your information is complete and up to date.

To use the directory, log in to our website, hover over the Resources tab and click "Resource Directory." From there, you can enter a simple search term in the "search" field, such as county or shelter/organization name, to return basic results. Or, click "Advanced Search" to search on any number of fields such as ability to investigate animal abuse, ability to facilitate transfers or hours of operation, or to connect with other members by type (humane society, dog warden, 501(c)3 rescue and others).

Member Benefit: The directory was designed for use only by Ohio Fed members, not the general public. Only members who are logged in can access it.

MEMBER NEWS

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS!

The following shelters and organizations joined Ohio Fed during the second quarter of 2025: 

• Delaware City Police Department   
• Foreverland Farm   
• Humane Society Serving Crawford County 
• Monroe County Dog Pound 
• SPCA Cincinnati  
• Stark County Humane Society 
• Toledo’s PET Bull Project 
• Westerville Police Department 

Click here for a list of all organizational members.

NEWS FROM AROUND THE FED

Do you have news to share? Click here to submit your news for the next issue.

• Congratulations to Haley Pedragovich, shelter director at the Tuscarawas County Humane Society, who was recently recognized as a 2025 Leading Lady of Tuscarawas County. Haley is an RVT and has served as the shelter director for almost 8 years. She was also appointed as a humane agent during that time. 

• The Lorain County Dog Kennel is proud to announce their first-ever "Volunteer of the Year" award to Tory Mittler, a volunteer who has become truly irreplaceable at their county facility (and beyond). The LCDK sincerely hopes that the other 87 counties in Ohio are lucky enough to have a “Tory” of their own to be proud of.

• We had a busy Spring with 17 people successfully completing our Humane Society Agent Training and another 49 people completing Euthanasia by Injection Training. Our next round of both of these trainings will be this fall (check our Events page for details). Congratulations to:

Kaelynne Holland, Jefferson County Humane Society

Audrey Huang, Columbus Humane

Katrina Jackson, Animal Friends Humane Society

Macee Julien, Montgomery County Animal Resource Center

Lexi Knight, Ross County Dog Warden

Torrie Leanza, Rescue Village

Sonia Levin, Columbus Humane

Thomas Linn-Barry, Cleveland Animal Control

Bailey Logsdon, Columbus Humane

Mary Malerich, Friendship APL

Zora Maxfield, Summit County Animal Control

Corryn McHugh, Humane Society of Summit County

John Meeks, Hocking County Sheriff's Office

Erin Morris, Cincinnati Animal CARE

Zoe Myers, Columbus Humane

Kareess Noel, Cincinnati Animal CARE

Alex Rodriguez, Cleveland Animal Control

Rachel Saggio, Cleveland APL

Dana Shamp, Animal Friends Humane Society

Amanda Skingel, Rescue Village

Mallory Smith, Cincinnati Animal CARE

Taylor Sypherd, Humane Society of Summit County

Kara Torres, Lake Humane Society

Sam Tousely, Cleveland Animal Control

Kendra Welch, Cleveland Animal Control

Caitlin Wright, Stark County Humane Society

Kiley Wright, Humane Society of Summit County

Jimmy Zawada, Cleveland APL

UPCOMING PROGRAMS

June 17, 2025 - Parvo, Panleuk, and the Lifesaving Team: Saving Lives in Shelters and Foster Homes

June 26, 2025 - Animal Abandonment in Ohio: Criminal, Civil & Crossovers

August 28, September 4, 11 & 18, 2025 - Euthanasia by Injection Certification

Other upcoming programs (details and registration coming soon):

August 28, 2025 - Social Media for Fundraising

Member Benefit: Ohio Fed members receive discounted registration fees on all of our educational programs.

SNAPSHOT FROM SHELTER ANIMALS COUNT

Couldn't make it to the 2025 Leadership Summit but want to see the data? Click here to view Ohio vs. national animal shelter data trends (2023 vs. 2024), which was prepared for us by Shelter Animals Count (SAC).

As you will see, 45% of the 2024 data is estimated, meaning many Ohio organizations are not yet reporting their data to SAC. If you aren't already, please consider providing your data. More participation will ensure that the data reflects what's really happening, especially as shelters face increased pressure with limited resources. You can register for SAC by scanning the QR code on the last slide.

QUICK LINKS

Events

Resources

Member Resource Directory

Board of Directors

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Phone: 614-270-8030, Address: P.O. Box 21328, Columbus, OH 43221

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