Athens County Dog Shelter should begin planning to become a no-kill shelter. Euthanizing rescued dogs is simply unethical. I have spent many hours in the Athens County Dog Shelter volunteering, and I know that this shelter can be added to the growing list of no-kill shelters across the country. I also have experience volunteering at Berea Animal Rescue Fund, a shelter in the suburb of Cleveland. This shelter has been no-kill for 20 years. Athens County Dog Shelter actually has more space than the shelter in Berea, but the Berea shelter makes it possible with the help of the community, volunteers and foster homes.
The shelter here in Athens is not funded other than the proceeds that they get from dog licenses and kennel licenses. The shelter only has a few full-time employees and does not always have a consistent amount of volunteers. The only way that the Athens County Shelter can become no-kill is with the help of the community.
Athens County can become a no-kill shelter if they start to put more focus on PR. People are willing to travel for the perfect companion. The employees of the Athens shelter do list their dogs on petfinder.com, but there are more resources that can benefit the countless dogs. The shelter needs to get its name more familiar in all of Ohio, and not just the Athens community. With the help of volunteers, there can be a group geared only for promotions and fundraising for the shelter. More organization can help the shelter get on the right track. Volunteers can be given more responsibilities like cleaning the kennels, bathing, walking and feeding the dogs. More people would be willing to help if given specific roles, instead of playing with the dogs maybe once a week.
The Athens shelter currently has a gas chamber that was once used, but after many disputes from the community, it is no longer in use. The shelter now uses lethal injection to euthanize the unwanted dogs, but it is very expensive. This just wastes so much of the shelter’s precious money. Berea Animal Rescue Fund has been successful from the help of foster homes. The shelter only holds eight dogs, and dozens of the other rescues are put in foster care. Puppies are always kept out of the shelter to prevent any disease, and the others are put into homes where they can begin training with their foster parents. The only way that Athens County Animal Shelter can start to plan for a no-kill shelter is if they have a little faith in the community. Once they have a foundation, the shelter will be proud to spread the word of being no-kill, which will only encourage more volunteers to get involved.
I would find it very hard to believe that Athens County Dog Shelter actually wants to euthanize poor, unwanted dogs, so why not move forward and really make a difference in these dogs’ lives?
Theresa Pfeil is a sophomore studying theater at Ohio University.
