Thousands of companion animals across Stark County and the surrounding communities are facing crises.
Last year alone, the Stark County Humane Society accepted more than 4,000 animals into its care. Each pet had a story, a family, and a life no one would care for. And each pet had something very important missing from its life.
The Humane Society is a safe place for these animals. Its guiding mission is to ensure each animal in its care has access to the “Five Freedoms” of animal welfare: freedom from hunger and thirst; freedom from discomfort; freedom from pain, injury or disease; freedom to express normal behavior; and freedom from fear and distress.
Alongside that mission is the Humane Society’s mantra: “To Speak for Those Who Cannot Speak for Themselves.”
Members of the Humane Society team provide a tremendous service to the companion animals of Stark County every day. The immediate tasks at hand are to help the sick, injured, neglected and abused animals in our county.
Owner surrenders are accepted when space is available but take second priority to sick, injured, neglected and abused animals, based on space. The shelter doesn’t euthanize for space or cost of medical treatment. These factors limit the space available to do much of the most important work in our community.
In 2024, the Humane Society received 408 sick and injured animal calls. Each call received an immediate response, regardless of the time. The Humane Society the only shelter in Stark and the surrounding counties that has a 24/7 hotline and van to serve injured, sick, neglected or abused animals. The team’s tireless work ethic to continue working after a shift ended is a great service to our county.
The shelter also received 508 animal cruelty and neglect reports in 2024. Its highly trained humane agents responded, investigated and followed up on the cases that required action to ensure the health and safety of the animals.
Sometimes the consequences were immediate seizure of the animal, rather than supporting and educating the animal’s family. In these cases, 18 were investigated and turned over to criminal charges. All 18 cases last year resulted in a guilty verdict against animal abusers. The team’s passion and experience help put animal abusers in jail for their crimes.
In instances of owner surrenders, the shelter has space available for unwanted pets. Since animals are not euthanized for space or medical costs, some pets have resided at the shelter for as long as three years. But if one pet is at the shelter for three years, that means there’s limited space for another pet to reside. So, spacing is limited and is constantly changing based on adoptions, intake and other factors.
Sometimes hoarding is the issue at hand. When the Humane Society manages a hoarding case with animals involved, resources are gathered to set up for removal of the animals. Last spring, 98 rabbits in one home were saved. In one day, all 98 were removed, seen by medical professionals, fed, watered and monitored for health conditions. That’s an enormous number of resources to maintain, but the shelter works diligently to help all animals in need.
A dog named Mary Beth came into the shelter last fall. She was found among trash, debris and a deceased dog outside on her property. The food bowls had leaves and brown sludge in them.
Mary Beth came to the shelter with a body condition score of 1.5/9. She was emaciated, dehydrated, covered in fleas, and positive for heartworm and Lyme disease. She weighed just 27 pounds.
She was started on a feeding schedule of small meals every two hours. After six days of round-the-clock care, she slowed on gobbling up her meals. She began to put on weight and open to the kennel and medical staff. She was close to fully vetted and eventually was able to undergo spay surgery.
Mary Beth recently was moved to the adoption floor and is awaiting a forever home. The animal abuser in her case has criminal charges filed against him.
If readers don’t have the lifestyle to adopt an animal, there are many other ways to help animals in need. Volunteering, participating on a committee, donating much-needed supplies, or making a financial donation are a few.
We welcome guests to stop by for a tour to learn more about the needs of companion animals here in our community. Your voice could be an important one as our community teams up “To Speak for those Who Cannot Speak for Themselves.”
Jackie Godbey is executive director of the Stark County Humane Society in Nimishillen Township, a nonprofit serving Stark County for over 100 years. Visit www.starkhumane.com to learn more.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Humane Society speaks for animals ‘who cannot speak for themselves’ | Opinion
Reporting by Jackie Godbey / The Repository
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