The Shelby County Pet shelter (SCAS) has been under the management of the Shelby Region Sheriff’s Workplace since 2009 when the State Commissioners to ask the particular Sheriff’s Department to take over the shelter.
The small staff at the shelter includes a deputy, the dog warden, and two part time front desk employees.
The particular Sheriff’s deputy at the shelter is responsible for answering calls in order to pick up stray dogs in the county to re-home or find their owners. The mouthpiece also responds to calls regarding humane concerns for animals in Shelby County including canines, horses and livestock. Ohio law dictates that shelters are not required to take in stray cats, however the shelter has always used the minimal space they had available to consume plus help as many stray cats as possible. Since the particular new SCAS building was opened within 2019 the shelter has been able to take in more strays animals due to more kennel and play space for the particular animals.
The new SCAS facility included more kennel spaces but also larger play rooms for the cats, a separate meet plus greet room for people to meet the canines they are looking to adopt, a grooming space for the particular animals, the quarantine area in case a sick or injured animal is brought in, heated floors and a built in foaming system to make keeping the facility clean easier for that staff. The old service could only house 18 dogs and had six cat little cat enclosures, the new shelter offers upgraded in order to 40 kennels for your dogs and room to house about 20 pet cats. In the area outside the facility there are walking trails and an obstacle course. During the COVID-19 shutdown, the shelter received a grant from TCC Verizon inside Sidney to create paths through the particular wooded areas behind the shelter with regard to staff plus volunteers in order to walk and exercise the particular shelter dogs. The outside obstacle course was built by the 2021 Girl Scout Gold Award winner Kierstyn Oberdorf of Sidney and other volunteers.
“Compared to where we came from to exactly where we are usually now, it’s night and day difference, ” said Dog Warden Chasitity Crowder.
The shelter’s main goal is to find homes for the animals brought into their care. The small staff just includes the dog warden, deputy plus two part time employees who run the front desk, but they continue in order to work with the particular animals introduced in to figure out their personalities and quirks before trying to find the perfect home regarding the animal. “Fur-tastic Fridays” is the monthly event that the protection hosts on the fourth Friday every month in different locations around the region to bring the creatures to the community in hopes to find them their “fur-ever” homes.
SCAS also does their best to help sick and injured animals. The particular shelter works closely with Shelby Region Animal Rescue and Tri-County Veterinary in order to get the animals the particular help they may need before being put up for adoption. Since the shelter functions closely along with a rescue and veterinarian, they consider themselves to be a “low-kill” refuge, meaning that euthanizing animals is not something the shield has had to do often.
“We have had to euthanize, it’s not something we have in order to do frequently. Over the past 6 or seven years, percentages (of pets euthanized) have been below 5%, ” said Crowder.
Volunteers, individuals looking to adopt or even those who just want to see the animals are always welcome in the shelter. Located at 610 Gearhart Road the shelter is open Monday-Friday 9 a. m. to 4 p. m. and Saturdays from nine a. meters. to noon and is closed upon Sundays.
The Sidney Daily News conducts a periodic interview to update readers with news from the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, 555 Gearhart Street, Sidney.