World-class dog shelter merits widespread support

For the tens of thousands of dog owners and dog lovers in Mahoning County, last Friday certainly can be chalked up as a red- letter day.

After years of planning and preparatory work, ground was broken Friday on a $3.8 million state-of-the-art dog shelter on North Meridian Road in Austintown. With so many strong suits, the project merits widespread community support, including donations to help defray expenses of the shelter that will be a positive difference maker for the health and welfare of thousands of our four-legged friends throughout the county.

How will it dramatically enhance the quality of their lives? Let us count just a few of the many ways:

The new shelter will reduce or eliminate chronic overcrowding at the current 40-year-old county dog pound by expanding available space from 9,000 square feet to more than 14,000 square feet. The new shelter will house up to 90 dogs, compared with a maximum occupancy of about 50 at the current outdated and outmoded facility on Industrial Road. The existing pound also suffers major structural deficiencies, including a leaky roof and drainage problems.

The new shelter will offer a hodgepodge of additional amenities, including the ability to house large dogs, small dogs and puppies in separate areas, the addition of an indoor exercise area plus natural lighting throughout to lessen any resemblance to a doggie dungeon.

The new shelter will be much more visible to many more people because of its location along a major highway between the two bustling interchanges of Interstates 80 and 680. Stronger visibility should breed stronger public consciousness of the shelter and greater public recognition of and support for its mission.

In addition, those concerned about the dollars and sense of the project can rest assured that the long arm of county government will not be picking away at taxpayers’ pockets.

As Mahoning County Commissioner David Ditzler put it, ‘‘There’s no general- fund dollars utilized for this project. You know, it’s not tax dollars. All of the bonds that are taken out on the construction to pay for this are all paid back by fees that are collected for dog licenses and dog tags.”

SUPPORT FUNDRAISING DRIVE

To assist the shelter in independently financing its new expansive home, Friends of Fido again has stepped up to the plate. Friends, a nonprofit advocacy organization for the welfare of dogs housed in the Mahoning County Dog Pound, has launched an ongoing fundraising campaign to supplement dog fees in financing the project.

Members of Friends of Fido truly live up to their catchy alliterative name. They take time daily to walk, play with and bond with pound dogs. They finance spaying, neutering and other procedures to enable dogs to go to a rescue organization for a better chance at a permanent home. They also pay for veterinarian fees for sick pound dogs. Through those and other good deeds, Friends has earned the friendship, respect and support of all county residents, particularly those with a fondness for dogs.

The organization has mustered up a slew of benefit events to help in its fundraising campaign. Among them are a Dog Days of Summer Sidewalk Sale on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Ivory and Birch Boutique in Boardman, a benefit dinner and raffle Sunday at S-N-K Double Deuce Saloon in Youngstown and a benefit Mahoning Valley Scrappers game Aug. 14 in Niles. Contact Friends of Fido or visit its website at www.friendsoffidomahoning.org for more information.

Tax-deductible donations also can be made to the Mahoning County treasurer with the notation “New Dog Shelter” or to Friends of Fido directly.

Despite the crying need for the larger shelter, Friends and other animal advocates can do only so much. The shelter will remain a temporary oasis for dogs, and it will likely still struggle with an oversupply of dogs and insufficient demand for adoptions. That’s why there can never be any substitute for responsible pet ownership in which masters ensure their dogs are properly spayed and neutered to prevent the births of unwanted litters and that canines are not allowed to roam freely – and dangerously – off of their home turf.

A reality check, however, will reinforce the fact that stray, lost and neglected dogs always will run among us. That’s why it’s fortunate that Mahoning County soon will provide them with the world-class shelter they deserve. That’s also why Friends of Fido should draw a robust response to its vital fundraising campaign to help build it.