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One ‘ruff’ time for Mahoning County humane society
BOARDMAN
It’s been a rough time for Animal Charity Humane Society, the nonprofit animal shelter at 4140 Market St.
Mary Louk, the nonprofit’s board president, said the humane society has faced a host of problems. These include fewer donations, a drop in manpower, a broken furnace in the kennels and community complaints.
As of this month, Louk said the nonprofit has received $53,249 in donations compared with $185,000 by the end of October 2013.
Shalyse Bolash, executive director for the humane society, said the nonprofit, which serves only Mahoning County, received a “sizable donation” of just over $100,000 last year from a single donor. But even without that, she said the nonprofit made less than last year at this point. Neither Bolash nor Louk knew why donations are down.
Though the nonprofit is down in funding for the year, Louk said animal-abuse calls are on the rise.
As the agency faced an increase in calls, its only humane agent left in early September. Bolash said the agency was in a bind in trying to handle some rescue calls.
“A lot of rescues can only be done by a humane agent, legally,” she said. “So right now, the only animals we can take are from owners who were arrested by police.”
The humane society plans to have two new humane agents ready to work by Nov. 1. Bolash said the two new hires will be fully trained by December.
Despite the challenges, Louk said she remains positive. She said there have been small steps to improve the agency’s situation.
Bolash said the humane society replaced five people on its seven-member board in June to help generate new ideas.
Louk said the society is also interviewing candidates to add a new full-time veterinarian position by 2015. Currently, there is only one full-time veterinarian at the facility.
“We want to be able to offer more affordable vet care for the community,” Louk said. “We have a full-service vet clinic — something a lot of people don’t know — and are able to take on more than just spaying, neutering and vaccinating animals. And it’s hard with only one vet in the clinic.”
And to fight community complaints, Louk said the nonprofit hopes to bring back education sessions in 2015 to teach the community what the clinic does.
“Next year, we want to hit up Mahoning County-area schools to educate kids on how to take care of animals, in particular,” Louk said.
The humane society received a “surprise” earlier this month. An anonymous donor helped pay for a new furnace from Mazza Heating & Cooling to put in the kennel.
“I kind of doubted him at first, but he came through on paying for it,” she said. “It teared me up a bit. For anyone to help us when we’re struggling means a lot to us.”