SIDNEY — The Shelby County Humane Society is alive and well and busy.
That’s the word society leaders want to get out to the community. They’ll do that Sunday, April 8, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Tractor Supply Co., 1650 Michigan St.
They will host a bake sale there with baked goods for humans and pets, an adoption opportunity making the dogs and cats they foster available to forever homes and an aluminum can collection as a fundraiser. They will also accept donations of cat and dog food and carriers, crates and cages for use by families fostering pets.
The humane society is not affiliated with the Shelby County Animal Rescue Foundation known as SCARF or the Shelby County Animal Shelter, operated by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office. It ceased operations for a time after a former director mismanaged the organization. But two years ago, the society was reorganized, re-established its nonprofit status and has been active since then. No one on the current board of trustees was associated with the former society.
Keri Hickman, of Jackson Center, Humane Society president, is a certified humane agent. She said the role of the society is to help in the rescue of animals.
“There’s plenty of need to have several rescue (organizations) in the county,” she said.
The humane society does not have a facility to house rescued animals.
“We take in animals and put them in foster homes,” Hickman said. Since its reorganization, the society has rescued and found homes for 103 cats, three horses, a goose, 16 dogs, a potbellied pig, a snake, 12 Dwarf hamsters, five chinchillas and some baby birds. Usually calls come from people who can’t keep their pets.
The group taking the calls are “just a handful of ladies with hearts as big as Texas,” Hickman said.
She noted that society volunteers work with staff at the animal shelter on a regular basis.
“The people at the shelter are great,” Hickman said. When someone calls Hickman about an abused animal, she calls the shelter.
“We’ll work with anybody regarding animal abuse, wheter it be an outside agency or a citizen complaint,” said Shelby County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Jim Frye. “We take them all seriously. We’ll investigate to the fullest extent we possibly can.”
The humane society has incurred expenses totalling more than $15,000 in the last two years but has raised just $4,580 through fundraising events and donations. Expenses are for animal medications, veterinary bills and spaying and neutering.
Tax-deductable donations can be made to the Shelby County Humane Society by mailing checks to P.O. Box 335, Jackson Center, OH 45334, through a GoFundMe page at www.gofundme.com by putting Shelby County Humane Society in the search bar, at the organization’s web page, www.shelbycountyohiohumanesociety.com and at Sunday’s event at Tractor Supply.
The Humane Society’s board meetings are open to all interested residents. The board and society members meet every third Saturday of the month at 3:30 p.m. in the Sidney American Legion hall, 1265 Fourth Ave.
For information, call 937-538-8450.
