From street to street, house to house, stray animals roam Athens County in droves. There are an estimated 70 million stray animals worldwide, and Athens has no shortage of them.
According to Berkeley Franz, board member and volunteer for Friends of the Shelter Dogs, said the Athens County Dog Shelter is legally required to take in any stray animals.
“By law we legally have to allow dogs to come in if they are strays,” Franz said. “It’s a real struggle just to make sure that there’s space for that.”
Friends of the Shelter Dogs works to support the dogs of the Athens County Dog Shelter by providing resources such as medical care, enrichment and social needs, according to Franz.
“We have pretty much consistent need to take in animals that are strays,” Franz said.
In 2023, the Athens County Humane Society took in approximately 250 animals, despite not having a shelter.
Angela Marx, executive director at Athens County Humane Society, said cat overpopulation in Athens is a huge issue.
“So many areas of our county are inundated with stray cats,” Marx said in an email. “A significant factor is the extreme poverty in our region.”
According to Marx, a factor of this extreme poverty is individuals feeding stray cats without having the financial means to provide vet care.
“It’s a hard truth to get across to people, but the moment you start feeding a cat, it becomes yours, and you take some responsibility for its care and welfare,” Marx said in an email.
According to Marx, spaying and neutering are big ways people can help lessen the stray animal problem in Athens. When someone takes in their pet or a stray to get spayed or neutered, it takes away that animal’s ability to reproduce and thus ensures that there are no unwanted offspring.
“Just being aware that spay and neutering is top priority in addressing this problem and to take responsibility for cats you are feeding or that are on your property,” Marx said in an email.
Jess Mitchell, a senior studying biological sciences, is the president of Bobcats of the Shelter Dogs and All 9 Lives at Ohio University.
“Our (Bobcats of the Shelter Dogs) works directly with the Athens County Dog Shelter,” Mitchell said. “We do a lot of volunteering and taking care of those animals, so that’s very eye-opening about the importance of spay neuter to prevent these problems.”
Mitchell said microchipping pets is very important to easily locate a lost pet.
For OU students looking to help stray animals, Athens County Dog Shelter and Athens County Humane Society is always accepting support.
“Students should support the shelter,” Mitchell said. “They should adopt, especially when you’re in Athens County because of the overpopulation (of strays).”
"We have a large amount of dogs coming into the shelter every week that are strays,” Franz said.
Franz urges students and Athens County residents to volunteer through Bobcats of the Shelter Dogs or Friends of the Shelter Dogs, as well.
“We have tons of opportunities to help,” Franz said. “We have a really great community of people who step up to help, especially when we’re struggling with space in the shelter.”
Marx said students are helpful to the Athens County Humane Society.
“Many of our cats go to great forever homes with OU students,” Marx said in an email. “Many of our foster caretakers are also students.”
