43
Volunteers go to the dogs
Photo
Maggie Koval of Youngstown cuddles with Neptune, one of the dogs at the Mahoning County Dog Pound. Koval is one of the volunteers who walk the pound’s pups, providing exercise and fresh air for the animals.
YOUNGSTOWN
A dedicated group of volunteers improves the quality of life for dogs housed at the Mahoning County Dog Pound by taking them out of their cramped cages and walking them near the pound.
“The dogs get exercise, and it keeps the dogs from going stir-crazy. Because the dogs don’t go stir- crazy, they’re adoptable,” said county Dog Warden Matt Ditchey.
The volunteers enjoy walking the dogs, and they enjoy the company of other dog walkers, he added.
“They need exercise. They need fresh air,” said Maggie Koval of Youngstown, who walks dogs outside the pound almost every day.
About 10 volunteers exercise the dogs regularly, and an additional 30 walk them intermittently outside the pound at 589 Industrial Road on the city’s West Side.
A half-dozen of the volunteers were exercising the dogs on a recent sunny and balmy weekday afternoon when the pound housed 45 dogs. Ditchey said he generally needs more dog walkers to volunteer on days when the weather is not as pleasant.
Ditchey said he and the four deputy dog wardens on his paid staff are busy performing other tasks such as rounding up loose dogs, cleaning dog cages, answering the telephone and selling dog licenses, and they do not have time to regularly walk all of the resident dogs.
Even after the planned pound expansion is completed and each dog is housed in a larger enclosure, the volunteer dog walkers still will be needed, Ditchey said. “The dogs will still need walked. The dogs need places to go,” Ditchey said.
“I love the dogs, and the dogs here are extra special,” Koval said. “They’re either strays or they’re turned in by their owner, and they need some extra attention and care,” she added.
Domino, a 3-year-old terrier mix, was one of many dogs Koval walked on a recent day. “Domino is very sweet and gentle. Although he doesn’t look that way, he really is a sweetheart, and he’s one of the volunteers’ favorites. He loves attention,” Koval said.
By midafternoon, Koval already had walked eight dogs in three hours and intended to walk at least four more that day. She walks each dog for at least 15 minutes and sometimes a half-hour.
She also chained some of the dogs to trees outside the pound to enable them to spend more time outdoors.
Another volunteer, Lisa Hill of Poland, walked a new arrival, a 10-year-old male beagle whose name she did not know.
“I love dogs, and I just want to help them,” said Hill, who tries to walk dogs at the pound four days a week, usually before her 10 a.m. start time at work. “They love to be outside,” she said of the dogs.
Renee Audia of Youngstown walked Fisher, a pit-bull mix between age 1 and 2. “He’s sweet. He’s a little bit shy, but he’s really affectionate,” she said, adding that she hasn’t seen any aggressiveness in him.
“Most of the pit bulls that come in here are really, really nice. They’re some of the nicest dogs that come in,” Audia said.
Audia volunteers daily at the pound, usually walking at least five dogs each day. “Any little bit of affection, they appreciate it,” she observed. “They deserve it,” she added.
“It’s hard putting them back [in their cages after the walks], but our hope is that they get adopted and that that’s their last night in that cage,” Koval said.
“You always have to maintain control,” Koval said of walking pound dogs. “You want to make sure, if another dog comes close, that you have quick rein on the dog — that you can rein it in so there are no attacks,” she advised.
“You don’t know how a dog is going to react sometimes to another dog or to a human,” she concluded.