Responsibility to pets a high priority

9/8/2013

Recent Blade articles highlighted the sad reality that not every dog that comes into a shelter can be adopted out safely to a new family (“Once-adoptable ‘Schultz’ is killed to shock of many,” Sept. 2). We are proud that we have found new homes for more than 2,500 animals this year, but we want to save more.

As the only open-admission shelter in this area, we often take in dogs and cats that other groups can’t or won’t take in. Some of these animals were victims of neglect or abuse, while others were surrendered after biting a family member or neighbor.

Our goal is to try to save every animal that comes to us, but we also have to take into account the safety of our adopters in deciding whether an animal should be put up for adoption.

We are always looking to learn more about how we can improve. We recently received free American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals training for our staff. We plan to schedule future meetings with leaders of ASPCA, the Lucas County Dog Warden’s office, Humane Ohio, and the Toledo Area Humane Society. That should enhance our current partnerships and give us ideas about doing more together in the future.

Let’s push for pets to get microchipped and wear their identification collars. Owners should register dogs with the dog warden, and keep their contact information current, so that lost pets can quickly get reunited.

We are thankful to groups such as Humane Ohio, Planned Pethood, the Toledo PET Bull Project, and others who are helping the county dog warden and us. We need to focus on what we can do to reduce intake of animals, encourage personal responsibility, and make sure that access to low-cost spay and neuter services is available to pet owners.

GARY WILLOUGHBY

Executive Director Toledo Area Humane Society

Maumee