Brown County Humane Society in need of donations for SNAP

Thanks to an $11,000 match donated from someone who wished to remain anonymous and other donations received from local sources, the Brown County Humane Society was successful in its “$22K for ‘22” campaign launched late last year for the Spay and Neuter Assistance Program that helps to limit stray dog and cat populations throughout the county.

The $22k raised went towards the spaying and neutering of hundreds of animals in the county, including around 300 feral cats. But controlling the stray dog and cat populations is an ongoing task, and the Brown County Humane Society is in need of donations to continue SNAP for 2022.

According to Brown County Humane Society Director Renee Bates, after seeing the continued success of the Spay and Neuter Assistance Program and how it contributes to controlling stray dog and cat populations in Brown County, it is necessary to keep the program going.

“We were able to spay and neuter almost 400 animals. Three-hundred of them were community and feral cats,” Bates said of the $22k raised from the campaign that started late last year. “We issued over 200 vouchers for people who wanted to get their dogs or cats spayed or neutered.”

“That $22,000 went really far,” said Bates.

In their new campaign to raise more funds so SNAP will restart for 2022, Bates said the same anonymous source that donated $11,000 during the campaign held late last year has agreed to provide up to a $5,000 match to help the humane society continue SNAP for the remainder of this year. The Brown County Humane Society has launched a new SNAP campaign and is currently accepting donations in its goal of raising $5,000 to match the $5,000 being donated by the generous individual who still wishes to remain anonymous.

According to Bates, not only does SNAP help to control stray cat and dog populations in Brown County, but the spay and neuter vouchers provided through SNAP help out many good pet owners in the county.

“People of Brown County love animals, and there are a number of good pet owners in the county who struggle to come up with the money for spaying and neutering. SNAP will help with that,” said Bates.

“We had to pause the program when we ran out of money, so we’re working on grants and donations to get the program started back up as soon as possible, because there is a real need. We’ve just scratched the surface,” said Bates.

“This is how we’re going to save thousands of animals,” Bates said of the SNAP.

While many animal shelters throughout Ohio are experiencing overcrowding during their busiest time of the year, Brown County is just under maximum capacity at its animal shelter in Georgetown with 28 as of Monday. Its maximum capacity is 32.

Bates said it’s a combination of a few things that has helped the Brown County Humane Society Animal Shelter stay at or just under maximum capacity during the busiest time of the year – SNAP, the use of social media sources, and community assistance.

“We’re very close to full, but we’re very lucky because the Brown County community kind of works as a whole to get the stray dogs home. They’ll share our (Facebook) posts, they’ll put them on ‘lost’ sites and all of the social media networks,” said Bates. “Because of that, our stray dogs tend to find their homes a little better. About 80 percent of what we are bringing in as strays are being redeemed by their families. I think that is kind of saving us and keeping our head above water.”

The Brown County Humane Society is consistent in its “lost dog” posts on social media, and it has certainly paid off for the small animal shelter with only two deputy dog wardens to serve under current Brown County Dog Warden Melissa Downs.

“We do that more actively than I’ve seen any other shelter do,” Bates said of the Brown County Humane Society’s social media “lost and found” posts.

Although it’s a busy time of the year for calls on stray pets, it’s a slow time of the year for adoptions at the shelter.

At near maximum capacity, Bates said the animal shelter in Georgetown is still “very full” with most dogs currently at the shelter ready for adoption.

You can donate to the Brown County Humane Society on the Brown County Humane Society Dog Shelter Facebook page, or by visiting the Brown County Humane Society website at https://www.bchsohio.org.

You can also drop off a donation in person or adopt a dog at the Brown County Humane Society Animal Shelter at 100 Veterans Blvd in Georgetown.

Contact the Brown County Humane Society by phone at (937) 378-3457.