June 2023
We hope this issue of our Quarterly E-News finds you well and enjoying the beginning of Summer. Thank you for all you do to help the animals in your community. Stay cool! |
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Ohio Fed Members Gather for 2nd Annual Advocacy Day
Members hosted a breakfast for legislators and staff and attended meetings to discuss Ohio Fed's mission.
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The Ohio Animal Welfare Federation (Ohio Fed) hosted our second, in-person Advocacy Day at the Statehouse on Wednesday, May 3, 2023. After breakfast to fuel up for the day, members of the Ohio Fed Board of Directors and other members from around the state enjoyed a busy day of meetings with legislators and staff.
Our message this year was simply our mission, which includes being a resource for elected officials. We want our legislators to contact Ohio Fed if they have a question about legislation involving animal welfare in Ohio. After all, we now represent humane societies, dog wardens/animal control and non-profit rescue and other related animal welfare organizations in 60 of Ohio's 88 counties. While our goal is to have at least one member organization in every Ohio county, those 60 counties represent slightly more than 90% of Ohio's population!
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.
During the meetings, we took the opportunity to thank legislators for their support of S.B. 164, which went into effect in April. The law bans the use of gas chambers to euthanize domestic animals and designates the most egregious felony and first-degree misdemeanor animal cruelty offenses as “violent" offenses. We also continued to discuss the Pet-Friendly Housing Bill drafted by the Cleveland Animal Protective League that will incentivize landlords to offer pet-friendly rentals. We hope to have more to report on this effort soon!
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Ohio Fed members Meg Werner, Lori Carlson, Robert Craft and Dakota Snure meet with Sen. Al Landis during Advocacy Day on May 3. |
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Ohio Fed members from across the state enjoying Advocacy Day. |
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Thank you!
Advocacy Day would not have been successful without the support of our members who drove in from all around the state to participate. Our thanks to Ohio Fed Board President Sharon Harvey, Cleveland Animal Protective League; Vice President Rachel Finney, Columbus Humane; Secretary/Treasurer Julie Holmes-Taylor, Greene County Animal Care & Control; Board Members Lori Carlson, Licking County Humane Society, and Brian Weltge, Humane Society of Greater Dayton; and Jana Cassidy, Humane Society of Delaware County; Robert Craft, Miami County Animal Shelter; Lori Shandor, Animal Welfare League of Trumbull County; Julie Shellhammer, Allen County Dog Warden's Office; Dakota Snure, Wayne County Dog Shelter; Meg Werner, Humane Society of Madison County; and Gregory Willey, Friendship Animal Protective League. It was an exciting day! |
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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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On Tuesday, April 18, 2023, we hosted our first Collective Thinking: The Ohio Fed Member Forum, which was a time for our members to connect, share and collaborate. Members from around the state logged on to discuss relationship building, and how forming relationships with other shelters, community members, potential sponsors and even your biggest critics can help save more animals. Members shared creative ways to connect with these groups from holiday cards and calendars to creating behind the scenes content for donors. All agreed that building relationships takes time, and may start with an old fashioned face-t0o-face meeting to get the ball rolling.
These quarterly member forums are not recorded, so members can feel free to openly discuss topics of interest. But that also means you have to join us to benefit from the discussion! Watch for our next member forum coming later this summer.
Member Benefit: Participation is limited to Ohio Fed members. Registration is free. |
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WELCOME NEW MEMBERS!
The following shelters and organizations joined Ohio Fed during the second quarter of 2023: |
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- Animal Shelter Society, Inc.
- City of Middleburg Heights Animal Control
- Humane Association of Warren County – Ohio
- Pike Pet Pals
- Portage County Dog Warden’s Office & Shelter
- Summit Control Animal Control
Click here for a list of all organizational members. |
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NEWS FROM AROUND THE FED
This summer, the Humane Society of the Ohio Valley (HSOV) will be celebrating the opening of a newly-constructed building behind their main shelter that will be available to provide short-term temporary housing for dogs whose owners are unable to take care of their pets because of domestic abuse/violence situations, personal illness, or hospitalization/rehabilitation stays. The project came about after shelter volunteer Amber Dennison heard of a program called “Don’t Forget the Pets - DFTP” and decided to learn more about it. Greater Good is a national non-profit public charity that helps organizations like HSOV help local animals. They offered a training webinar and coaching program, which Amber completed in October 2021. In September of 2022, after applying for funding for the program from Rescue Rebuild and meeting with the DFTP founding members and team, Amber introduced the idea to the Board of Directors at HSOV. The board agreed it was a great idea to help the people in need in their community. Fast forward to May 2023 when HVOC hosted the Marietta Area Chamber of Commerce ‘Business After Hours’ event, which was a perfect time to reveal the "shell" of the project to local business owners who attended. Guests were invited to take a self-guided tour of the shelter, which included the new building out back. The national Rescue Rebuild construction team is expected to come in June 10 to put their finishing touches on the building, and HSOV hopes it will be up and running by July. Congrats to Amber and the team at HVOC! |
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Humane Society of the Ohio Valley's newly-constructed building that will be available to provide short-term temporary housing for dogs whose owners are unable to take care of their pets because of domestic abuse/violence situations, personal illness, or hospitalization/rehabilitation stays.
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The event is a joint effort of the Sandusky County Dog Kennel (dog warden’s office), Sandusky County Children's Services and the Humane Society of Sandusky County. Community leaders and members sit in a hot vehicle for up to 30 minutes to show the effects of being locked in a hot vehicle. They are interviewed when they exit the vehicle and talk about how it felt.
This program began in 2010, after an elderly gentleman with dementia left his dog in his vehicle while he attended the Sandusky County Fair. He went into the fairgrounds late in the morning, then couldn’t find his vehicle. By 8:00 p.m. that evening county Humane Agent Kelly Pocock was removing the dead body of his dog from his vehicle. The evidence of the struggle that the dog went through to escape that vehicle lives vividly in Kelly's mind and resulted in her commitment to educate others on just how dangerous hot cars can be.
Over the last four years this event has been supported by the county commissioners, county sheriff, county prosecutor, police chief and k9 officers, detectives, local celebrities, and community members interested in making a difference. Local veterinarians and pediatricians speak on the effects of being left in a hot vehicle, and their local K9 officers have given a demonstration on how they keep their dogs safe during the hot summer months.
This event is open to the public, and EMS is on stand-by to make sure the participants are safe.
Thanks to Kelly and her team for all they do to educate their community on this important issue!
Do you have news to share? Click here to submit your news for the next issue.
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Other upcoming programs (details and registration coming soon):
July 18, 2023 - Volunteer Programming August 3, 2023 - Running a Small Non-Profit: What is Takes to Be Successful
Member Benefit: Ohio Fed members receive discounted registration fees on all of our educational programs. |
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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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