December 2023
We hope you all enjoyed a happy, healthy Thanksgiving and are looking forward to the holiday season! One fun way to kick-off the holidays is to participate in our 4th Annual Holiday Basket Raffle going on now through December 8. Click here to view our baskets, generously donated by our board and other members. You can purchase entries until midnight on Friday, December 8, and the winners will be announced on Monday, December 11. Good luck, and thank you!
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WORK CONTINUES ON HB 277, THE PET FRIENDLY RENTAL ACT The Ohio Animal Welfare Federation joined the Cleveland APL and other proponents on October 31, 2023, to present oral testimony in support of HB 277, the Pet Friendly Rental Act. This bill, sponsored by State Rep. Juanita Brent (D) and State Representative Sharon A. Ray (R), will provide a tax credit for landlords who allow dogs and cats to reside in their rental units. To qualify for the tax credit, landlords must not impose breed or size restrictions for pets, or a nonrefundable fee or additional rent related to the pets. Landlords will not be required to permit pets unless they want to qualify for the tax credit. The sponsors are now working through some of the constructive feedback we received during the hearing in hopes of moving the bill forward. |
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(l. to r.) Colleen Evans, Ohio Animal Welfare Federation; Lori Carlson, Licking County Humane Society; and Sharon Harvey, Cleveland APL advocating for HB 277. |
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We believe that incentivizing landlords with this tax credit will ultimately lead to keeping more families together by keeping more four-legged family members out of your shelters.
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. |
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AVAILABLE NOW: 2024 WEBINAR BUNDLE Now through January 31, 2024, Ohio Fed member organizations can purchase a Webinar Bundle to cover unlimited webinar registrations for your organization in 2024 (certain exclusions apply). |
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BONUS: Webinar Bundle also includes unlimited access to all recorded webinars in our online library (unless a speaker requests not to be recorded). We plan to once again offer 10-12 webinars in 2024 on a wide range of topics. If your organization frequently supports our educational webinars, a Webinar Bundle can save your organization money; enable you to offer training to more of your staff and volunteers; and drastically cut down on time spent requesting or processing registration fee payments.
Member Benefit: The Webinar Bundle is only available to current Ohio Fed members. |
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SHELTER ANIMALS COUNT COALTION REMINDER AND STATS
A few months ago we announced the launch of a new coalition for Ohio Fed members through Shelter Animals Count (SAC). Ohio Fed members: Have you signed up yet? |
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The Ohio Fed SAC coalition is designed to foster collaboration and provide data tracking and reporting among our members at a statewide level. Participating in the coalition will help us gain a better understanding of what's going on in Ohio and compare it to what SAC reports nationally. Send us an email for instructions on how to participate.
SAC just released the Q3 2023 data analysis report, which compares national animal sheltering data January-September 2021, 2022, to 2023.
According to the report, nationally shelters are in their third year of having too many animals and not enough adoptions — especially for dogs. The current trend shows dog adoptions down 1.2% from 2022 numbers, after shelter intake January-September 2023 saw a 2.5% increase in dog intake. |
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OHIO SNAPSHOT (thru October 2023)
66 organizations from Ohio have submitted some 2023 data to SAC for a total of:
- 63,000 community intakes (no transfers included)
- 61,000 community live outcomes (live outcomes that are not transfers)
- 6,000 non-live outcomes
Comparing year-over-year, we have a sample of 35 organizations (must have reported Jan-Oct data for 2021, 2022, 2023). Private shelters continue to be the primary reporting shelter type (43%).
- Ohio currently has a Population Balance (PBC) of 92%, meaning that 8% of animals entering organizations have yet to have an outcome and populations are increasing. This PBC is similar to what has been experienced in previous years during the same period (2021 = 92%, 2022=93%). However, this is a lower PBC than we are seeing nationally (96%).
- Intakes from the community are up almost 3% from 2022.
- Adoptions are down 7.4% from 2022. The current adoption rate is 67% which is down from 2022 (71%), indicating that while intakes are increasing, adoptions are not.
- Euthanasia rates are increasing from 5% in 2021 to 7% in 2023.
The information contained herein was derived from data supplied by Shelter Animals Count. Shelter Animals Count specifically disclaims all responsibility for any analysis, interpretations, conclusions and opinions contained in or derived from the information presented. |
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WELCOME NEW MEMBERS!The following shelters and organizations joined Ohio Fed during the fourth quarter of 2023:
Click here for a list of all organizational members.
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Thanks to them (and ALL of our members), we recently surpassed 100 total members! As a reminder, even though the shelter/organization is considered the member, anyone who works or volunteers there can take advantage of all an Ohio Fed membership has to offer. |
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We can't thank you enough for your support and belief in our mission to promote the well-being and humane treatment of domestic animals throughout Ohio through education, advocacy, and professional resources for animal welfare professionals, elected officials and law enforcement. |
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NEWS FROM AROUND THE FED
We had a busy November around Ohio Fed with 20 people enrolled in our Humane Society Agent Training and another 21 people enrolled in Euthanasia by Injection Training. We will again offer both of these programs this spring (dates TBD). Keep an eye on your inbox, or check our Events page for details. |
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Congratulations to these amazing people who are completing our 34-hour training required by Ohio law to become a Humane Society Agent in Ohio:
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Andrea Amburgey, Columbus Humane
Katy Asbrock, Clermont County Animal Shelter
Tessia Athy, Humane Society of Williams County
Benjamin Berry, Ashtabula County APL
Gabe Benton, Humane Society of Greater Dayton
Elizabeth Burkett, Butler County Sheriff's Office
Richelle Fair, Highland County Humane Society
Scott Fay, Cincinnati Animal CARE
Amber Frisby, Ohio SPCA & Humane Society
Torrie Gray, Clermont County Animal Shelter
Heather Hall, Butler County Sheriff's Office |
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James ("Tony") Hargrove, Union County Humane Society Brandon Hurles, Circle Area Humane Society
Stephanie Lewis, Humane Society of Greater Dayton
Andrew McDonald, Athens County Humane Society
Tim Pappas, Clermont County Animal Shelter
Corey Schoonover, Fairfield Area Humane Society
Kevin Sheppard, Meigs County Humane Society
Kerrie Taylor, Fairfield Area Humane Society
Bryana Williamson, Highland County Humane Society |
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Congratulations, as well, to the following compassionate individuals who just completed their 20-hour training to become Certified Euthanasia Technicians: |
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Katilyn Banks, Tabby Tails Cat Rescue
Kirk Bass, Greene County Animal Control
Stephanie Conley, Scioto County Humane Society
Cassidy Cunningham, Jefferson County Humane Society
Kara Edwards, Cleveland Animal Care & Control
Autumn Ermakov, Toledo Area Humane Society
Charlie Farmer, Columbus Humane
Sidney Ford, Fayette Regional Humane Society
Jackson Frantz, Shelby County Animal Shelter Shawn Harrod, Miami County Animal Shelter
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Haley Hentrich, Columbus Humane Sara Lewellen, Humane Society of Williams County
Kinsley Martin, Humane Society of Williams County
Emily Nelson, Columbus Humane
Jessica Patterson, Jefferson County Humane Society
Maddie Pioterek, Toledo Area Humane Society
Beth Rozman, Great Lakes Veterinary Hospital
Payton Thompson, Lucas County Canine Care & Control
Erica Spring, Jefferson County Humane Society
Chris Van Wyk, Cincinnati Animal CARE |
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Do you have news to share? Click here to submit your news for the next issue.
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Member Benefit: Ohio Fed members receive discounted registration fees on all of our educational programs.
TELL US WHAT YOU WANT!
Keep an eye out this month for our survey that will ask what educational topics you would like us to offer in 2024. Please participate so we are delivering the topics you need most! |
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THANK YOU!
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We wish to thank Petco Love for their continued sponsorship of our webinar program!
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FREE TEMPLATE - "DESIGNER DOGS" IN SHELTERS
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Saturday, December 2 is National Mutt Day. While it may be common knowledge to those who work in animal welfare, the general public may not recognize that all shelter dogs are not mutts, and that more and more pure breeds and "designer dogs" are ending up there too. |
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According to a recent survey conducted by Shelter Animals Count (SAC), more than 60% of respondents from shelters across 45 states reported receiving doodles and other intentional mixed breeds at their shelters. Read the full story here. National Mutt Day is the perfect time to raise awareness of the availability of "designer dogs" and other lovable mutts in your shelters and rescues. To help, SAC created a press release template that they encourage you to customize with your organization's branding and specific situation when reaching out to local media outlets.
If you don't have time to update the template by tomorrow, just remove the references to National Mutt Day and use it when you can. |
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