Logan County Commissioners met with representatives of the animal welfare community to discuss a proposal that might help control the spread of “bully breed” dogs.
Members of the Logan County Animal Haven, a local pet rescue operation that formed in the wake of the closure of the Top of Ohio Pet Shelter just over a year ago, pitched the idea of hosting a spay and neuter clinic aimed at large breed dogs that constitute the bulk of the county’s stray dog problem.
“This is about how we can get out in front of this and help control the pet population,” Commissioner Dustin Wickersham said during the discussion. “It’s not about singling out a single breed.”
Jim Alloway and Tracy Freeland of the Union County Humane Society, where local strays are housed, attended, along with Logan County Dog Warden Tim Klingelhofer.
Alloway reported that the Union County shelter is near capacity with more than half of the dogs being “bully breeds” and almost 90 percent of those types of strays coming from Logan County. A bully breed, he said, is any mixture of dogs with genetic similarities to pit bulls and similar breeds of dogs.
Less than 1 percent of those types of dogs lead full lives, he said after the meeting.
“The core problem is that we have more bully breeds than we have homes for,” Alloway said. “Between eight and 24 months, these kinds of dogs can become hard to handle because they are extremely strong and powerful animals. Unfortunately, people often abandon them.”
Read complete story in Wednesday’s Examiner.
CLICK HERE to subscribe today!
WEB EDITION STARTING AT $9.50 FOR 5 WEEKS!