County Dog Shelter Continues to Seek Support
They are part of the community and one look into their eyes can easily pull at your heartstrings.
They are part of the community and one look into their eyes can easily pull at your heartstrings.
“They all deserve a forever home,” said Michael Maresh, a volunteer at the Geauga County Dog Shelter. “It’s mostly because they all have just never gotten the chance from the right people.”
The recent Tail Waggin’ Good Time benefit dinner and silent auction helped raise money for the Geauga County Dog Shelter and Warden’s Office’s medical fund and the Geauga County Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit June 1 at St. Helen’s Church in Newbury Township.
The event is sponsored by Geauga County Recorder Sharon Gingerich, Totally Dogs 4H Club and state Rep. Sarah LaTourette, who underwrote the event.
The Geauga County Dog Shelter, 12513 Merritt Road in Chardon, is funded solely by dog licenses and donations.
Both Gingerich and LaTourette are passionate about dogs and their actions show it.
Over the years, LaTourette and her husband, Scott, have fostered more than 60 dogs, many with medical issues or special needs, and volunteered with the Golden Retriever Rescue.
She is also helping sponsor House Bill 552, which includes a limited license for drugs used for animal euthanasia.
“I’ve always been a dog person,” LaTourette added.
Gingerich, who rescued her first dog, Zeke, from the county shelter, shares LaTourette’s sentiment.
“He was a fox terrier and smart as a whip,” Gingerich recalled.
A breeder near Youngstown repossessed Gingerich’s most recent dog, Duke — whom she called a beautiful long-coated German Shepherd — from a bad situation and gave him to her.
“He developed cancer when I did and had to be put down the night before my first chemotherapy treatment,” Gingerich said. “I used to train one of my shepherds with the K-9 unit for a short time. That was really hard work. I respect from first-hand knowledge the work that goes into training a K-9 for police work. They are amazing dogs.”
People supporting the K-9 unit is “very helpful,” Sheriff Scott Hildenbrand said.
“The money helps very much to keep the K-9 unit going. The dogs are used for tracking, drugs, aggression and bomb detection,” he said.
Gingerich said the fundraising event typically raises about $5,000 for the shelter for medications and re-training for the dogs, and $1,000 for the K-9 unit.
“Ours is a no-kill shelter,” Gingerich said. “The only dogs that are put down are incurably ill or untrainable.”
Gingerich stressed fundraisers for the dog warden do not bring in big donations.
“Other more recognizable animal rescue places always get the bulk of the money,” Gingerich said. “It would really be nice to bring in large amounts for the care of the dogs at the (warden’s) shelter.”
Gingerich said it is important to understand the county’s dog shelter, run by “our wonderful dog warden, Matt Granito,” adopts out and re-unites an average of 600 to 700 dogs per year.
Granito said what’s really special is the dog 4H club, where kids work with their dogs and learn how to care for them.
“We like people adopting from any shelter because those animals deserve a second chance,” Granito added. “They are left or never claimed because people don’t care for them. These dogs give you unconditional love and they deserve a new home.”
He does not view any shelter as a “no kill.”
“I hate that term,” Granito said. “All the dogs that come to the shelter are assessed for temperament and health. Sometimes, when a dog is deemed too aggressive to be placed or too sick or suffering, we have to humane euthanize.”
Maresh comes to the shelter every weekend because he absolutely adores dogs, sometimes more than people, he admitted.
With one look at any of the three four-legged friends he worked with on a recent Saturday morning, it is undeniable feelings are mutual.
Maresh enlisted into the Ohio Army National Guard in 2006, served seven years as a military police officer and served one tour of duty in 2008 in Afghanistan. He trains dogs on the side and helps the shelter dogs have a bit of obedience for the families that want to adopt them.
The majority of these dogs deserve their second chance, he said.
“I volunteer with the shelter because unlike any other shelter I’ve been to, the staff here truly cares about the dogs and the well being of them,” Maresh said. “It doesn’t matter the age, breed, sex, etc. They all matter.”
He added, “The domesticated dog was created by people, for people and so many people don’t’ understand the breed or they just never give the dog a chance because they are unwilling to work with it. Dogs are a huge responsibility and for a well-balanced life with one or multiple dogs, you have to be willing to put in the work and time with them.”
Maresh encourages those looking for a new furry family member to see if one of the shelter dogs could be a fit.
“It’s important because these are part of the community and we owe it to them to be given a chance at finding a new home,” Granito said. “People can also help by donating their time, money, dog products, such as food and treats, and spread the word around town.”
Donations are welcome to help the Geauga County Dog Shelter by sending checks payable to Totally Dogs 4-H, to P.O. Box 39, Burton, Ohio 44021.
