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After nearly 46 years of providing a local animal shelter for Logan County’s stray dogs and some cats, the Humane Society Serving Logan County shuttered its operation and county officials ironed out a deal with Union County to accept strays.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Today through the end of the year we will look back and highlight what we consider to be some of the top news stories of 2016 in Logan County.
Members of the Humane Society board gave official 30-day notice to the Logan County Commissioners in May that, because of financial difficulties, the non-profit organization was canceling its contract to accept the county’s stray dogs.
By mid-June, all the remaining dogs at the shelter had been adopted and the commissioners had worked out a deal with the Union County Humane Society to begin accepting Logan County’s dogs.
Prior to the closure, Logan County had been providing an average payment of $7,000 per month to the local entity to fulfill the county’s legal requirement to house stray dogs.
In its letter to the commissioners, the Humane Society board said it cost almost $20,000 per month to operate the shelter and, over the years, charitable donations, bingo and other fundraising had been unsuccessful at closing that gap.
Dogs look out from their cages at the Top of Ohio Pet Shelter after its closing was announced in mid-May. (EXAMINER FILE PHOTO | REUBEN MEES)
The society faced $50,000 in unpaid debt and a $240,0000 outstanding mortgage on the 2521 N. U.S. Route 68 building.
Commissioners reported they had paid more than $1 million to the Humane Society since the shelter was opened in 2000 — with annual contract payments growing from $40,000 to $83,000 in 2015.
They could not justify raising the county’s contribution to a local shelter and opted to look elsewhere for services. They ironed out a deal with the Union County shelter to begin accepting the county’s strays at a rate of $6,250 per month.
Read complete story Thursday’s Examiner.
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