March 18, 2022 • 26 mins
There's a new Dog Warden in town. Cincinnati Animal CARE Humane Society is Hamilton County’s first no-kill shelter operator - fulfilling the County's Dog Warden responsibilities of collecting stray dogs and enforcing dog licenses.
In August 2020, Cincinnati Animal CARE officially took over operations of the County's dog shelter in Northside. At that time, the shelter was at full capacity. In 2021, they saw a near 70% increase in total animals coming in, and 2022 has shown no signs of slowing down. Cincinnati Animal CARE has taken in 320 animals since March 1. Listen as we discuss what a "no-kill" shelter means and how Cincinnati Animal CARE is dealing with the capacity challenges.
Cincinnati Animal CARE is open to the public seven days a week from 1pm - 6pm at 3949 Colerain Ave. Visit them today, meet the staff, and adopt or foster!
To learn more about Hamilton County, Ohio, our services and job openings, visit hamiltoncountyohio.gov.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jeff Aluotto (00:10):
Hello and welcome to Heart and hustle in Hamilton
County, a podcast entirelydedicated to the people and
policies that form Hamiltoncounty government. This is
actually our first show of thenew year. So let's do a little
bit of reset. Why the name,heart and hustle vote describes
the public servants who make ourlocal government work. Each of
(00:31):
our episodes focuses on creativesolutions to the challenges that
our 49 communities face, as wellas how our different county
departments tackle thosechallenges. It's kind of a local
government 101 For listeners whoare curious and want to learn
more about their localgovernment. I'm your host, Jeff
Alito, I'm the CountyAdministrator. And with me, as
always, is communicationsmanager Bridget Doherty,
(00:52):
Bridget, can I say Happy NewYear,
Bridget Doherty (00:54):
happy new year, a couple months in a couple
months
Jeff Aluotto (00:57):
late, but you know, or post or post masking
too. So this is a good thing.
And today, Bridget, we've beendying to do this show for a
while. So we're going to dive intoday to Hamilton County's no
kill animal shelter that's runby a Cincinnati animal care. The
Hamilton County Animal Shelterfor those of you that don't know
is located in north side 3949Colerain Avenue. And under Ohio
(01:21):
law, you know, we got to get alittle wonky in these things
right. But under Ohio law,counties are responsible for
providing the function of thedog warden in the county in
2020. Hamilton County switchproviders from the SPCA with
whom we had a long standingpositive relationship with
distance any animal care, whichis a no kill animal shelter with
(01:42):
a mission to provide a safetynet for any animal need. So
joining us today is RayAnderson, the shelter's media
and community relations managerto discuss what has been like
taking over for the dog Wardenfunction, all those
responsibilities and operationsfor the past year and a half and
what it means to operate a nokill shelter. So, Ray, welcome
(02:03):
to the show. Before we discussthe shelter, I'd like to know
just that the Publican, HamiltonCounty lote know a little bit
more about you so right,welcome. And tell us about
yourself.
Ray Anderson (02:16):
Thank you so much for having me. I'm very excited
to be here. I'm really excitedto get to do this, again,
talking to microphone withheadphones on. It's been a long
time. So my background comesfrom broadcasting. Right here in
Hamilton County in Cincinnati, Ihad about a 20 year radio
career. Most recently at MCs 94,nine, Cincinnati, and my career
(02:37):
ended during the pandemic, I waspart of some some COVID related
restructuring. And I didn't knowwhat I was going to do next. And
it all happened to kind ofcoincide with Cincinnati animal
care being formed. And I had aprevious relationship with our
executive director CarolynEvans, who also runs the my
(02:57):
furry Valentine event, MCs 94Nine, and my furry Valentine
were partners in that event, andI was always there. And I got to
know all the various sheltersand rescues around town. And it
just so happened that anopportunity to join the shelter
when the organization was beingformed in 2020 happened right at
the same time. And it was Imean, very fortuitous for me
(03:18):
because this is something I'vealways wanted to do, which is
work with animals, but I don'thave the science or intelligence
to be a veterinarian. So this isa really great opportunity for
me. Well, we're
Jeff Aluotto (03:28):
happy to have you here. And unfortunately, COVID
you know, shut a lot of doors ona lot of people. And a lot of
terrible ways. But you know, Ithink we've all gotten up to
speed, maybe more so than wewould like seeing the silver
lining and some of the thingsthat COVID has forced us to do
or opportunities that opened itup. So for you it actually
(03:48):
opened up an opportunity intothe animal care world.
Ray Anderson (03:51):
I would Yeah, I would say losing my job was the
greatest thing that everhappened to me getting to do
this. This is what I've beenwaiting my life to do.
Bridget Doherty (04:00):
That's so cool.
So first question out of thegate. Sure. Full disclosure, how
many animals do you own?
Ray Anderson (04:06):
I have five pets of my own at home. I have two
cat guys, three cats and twodogs.
Bridget Doherty (04:11):
So I always feel like that's an important
question when you're talkingabout the dog Warden services at
the county. Oh, sure. When wetalk to commissioners, the you
know, like how many pets do youactually own? Before you get
into this conversation now, whenwe did have that great
relationship with the SPCA, andDarrell, it Harold dates was
around. He always brought in ananimal during that the
(04:32):
commission meetings which waskind of
Ray Anderson (04:33):
I'm sorry, I didn't bring a dog for the
podcast. I know. I'm so sorry.
Had I had I known I would Iwould have brought one over.
Bridget Doherty (04:40):
Maybe we could edit some dogs in the back row
but we do.
Jeff Aluotto (04:45):
I've got regular update meetings that our budget
director Assistant AdministratorJohn Bergen I have with Carolyn
on a regular basis and she hasbeen nice enough to bring even
though we've been doing thesevirtually through COVID that she
will bring dogs onto onto thatOccasionally, just because she
knows my attention span needs tobe woken up with the dog got to
see a puppy. Absolutely,absolutely. So, Ray, tell us
(05:10):
first a little bit about some ofthe shelter services that
Cincinnati animal care doesprovide to the county. Sure.
Ray Anderson (05:16):
So you touched on it a little bit there in the
intro of course, per the OhioRevised Code. Every county in
the state of Ohio is required toprovide stray dog pickup and
stray dog hold for three days. Alot of counties throughout the
state will partner with theHumane Society to run shelter
operations, which is what we dohere in Hamilton County.
(05:37):
Previous operator was SPCACincinnati as of August 1 2020.
That is now Cincinnati animalcare. So in addition to
providing stray dog pickup andstray dog hold for three days,
which is handled by the HamiltonCounty dog wardens are typically
the ones going out collectingthe strays. We also provide the
animal shelter, we run theanimal shelter. any stray dog
(05:59):
that comes through HamiltonCounty comes to Cincinnati
animal care. After that threedays, that three day hold is up.
Typically, that's when a dogwill go up for adoption. We
provide adoption services,adoption counseling for both
dogs, cats, the occasionalrabbit, guinea pig, the
occasional mouse gerbil, I thinkthere might be a bearded dragon,
(06:21):
here and there over the years,you know, if they if it's an
animal and animals and county, alot of times it comes to us. So
we provide those adoptionservices. We also have a robust
foster program. That's part ofwhat we do. Kitty City with our
big cat areas, something that wedo. Pretty much anything animal
(06:42):
related in Hamilton County isgoing to come through us.
Jeff Aluotto (06:45):
So Ray, the follow up on that. Explain what a no
kill shelter is, and how thatmight differ from a typical
animal shelter for those who maybe unfamiliar. Sure, and
Ray Anderson (06:56):
that's a great question. And the phrase no kill
is definitely something thatgets thrown around a lot. That
I'm not sure if people trulyknow what what the exact
definition is. And for us, we'rea no kill animal shelter, which
means we do not euthanize forspace, convenience, or a
(07:19):
feeling. We're not like, oh,that dog kind of has a weird
look, we better put them downlike that's that's not what we
do. And I think traditionally,through animal sheltering people
are used to the animal shelterbeing the dog pound, and the
days of the dog pound are goingaway. And nationally, we're
starting to see this we workwith a lot of other shelters
throughout the country, to bringthis no kill mission to Hamilton
(07:42):
County, which is a very big areato be bringing this mission to
and it's challenging to do. Butwhat it really means is that no
kill means that we onlyeuthanize in the event of a
serious injury, grave illness,or we believe there's an
imminent threat to publicsafety. Euthanasia literally
(08:02):
translates to to end suffering.
So that's when we make thedecision to euthanize an animal.
It doesn't mean that you know,animals come in, and no matter
what condition they're in, nomatter what their temperament.
They're never ever, ever goingto be euthanized. But that is a
decision that we don't takelightly, is what that means. And
we only euthanize in thosesituations where it is deemed
medically behaviorallynecessary.
Bridget Doherty (08:26):
So you had mentioned when you first came
on, it was during COVID. And soyou guys basically took over the
contract at that right in thebeginning of the pandemic, I
think it was like August.
Ray Anderson (08:37):
Yeah, so we probably about three months into
the panda bears, I'm sorry,about seven months into the
pandemic, when we took over onAugust 1 of 2020. Gotcha.
Bridget Doherty (08:45):
And what was that experience like running the
the dog shelter operationsduring a pandemic? So
Ray Anderson (08:51):
everybody heard the stories during the beginning
of the pandemic, that animalshelters were getting cleared
out. That's what everybodyheard. That was the big
headline. By around that time,though, people were starting, we
were starting to, quote unquote,reopen. Of course, you know,
there were still a lot of thingsin place and still a lot of
moving parts. But you know, mymom works in restaurants. I'm
(09:11):
pretty sure she started goingback to work around May, maybe
June is when she went back towork when the pandemic started.
So we came on board. After allthe shelters had been cleared.
When we came into the shelter onday one in Northside at 3949
Colerain Avenue, there werealready about 90 dogs in the
building. And we have about thespace for maybe we consider we
(09:32):
have 100, suitable kennels, fordogs. So we were already
operating at capacity. And Ithink at that particular moment
in the pandemic, was when therewas a lot of uncertainty. You
know, early on in the pandemic,we're going to be at home for a
while you're going to be workingfrom home for a while, so you
can go get a dog. But once wewere starting that read that
slow reopening, and then youknow kind of closing back up
(09:54):
again in the fall of 2020. Andthen you know, those hills and
valleys throughout 2021. I thinkthere's a lot of uncertainty and
when there's a lot ofuncertainty, kinda like back in
2008, when we saw the housingcollapse, that's probably when
people are least likely to takeon a big life change, like
adopting a dog. So that's,that's our biggest hurdle that I
(10:15):
think we've been facing sincecoming on board during the
pandemic, is we didn't get thatluxury of clearing the shelter
out. And now we're dealing,we're still dealing with a lot
of uncertainty. And even now, aswe're, you know, reopened and
mass mandates are going away,there's still a lot, there's a
weird climate throughout notjust Hamilton County, but the
country, the world right now.
And I think that makes peoplenervous about taking on such a
(10:38):
big change.
Jeff Aluotto (10:42):
So speaking of that, and this is maybe a little
bit of a loaded question. Butthe demand for shelter services
just continues to be so high inthis community. So talk just a
little bit about how theshoulder goes about dealing with
all of that demand and theconstant flow of activity.
There's no break, I can imagineit just it's constantly there.
Ray Anderson (11:05):
Yeah, that was a big thing in my previous line of
work, where when things wouldget really busy, or really
tough, or like, I just got toget through the, I gotta get
through the spring book. Once weget through the spring ratings,
period, I'm gonna be good, I'lltake a little vacation,
everything be fine. Doing thisjob. I'm like, I just got to get
through everything and neverstops. And we've already seen
probably about a 40% increase intotal animal intake over the
(11:28):
last six months. But the sixmonths before that, we're no
picnic, either. We're we've beendealing with a massive increase,
particularly in stray dogscoming in off the street. And I
and I do want to say in regardsto COVID in the pandemic, it's a
common narrative that what we'reseeing is people who rushed out
to get these dogs during thepandemic are bringing them back.
(11:50):
Now, if that were the case, wewould be seeing if these were
dogs adopted from reputableshelters or rescues, they'd be
coming in spayed and neuteredmicrochipped, they'd have some
kind of identification to them.
But that's not we're seeingwe're seeing on altered animals,
non microchipped animals, mostlikely backyard breeding
situations is what's coming intothe shelter. So I don't think I
think running the AI the commonnarrative that it's people
(12:14):
rushing out and returning dogsthat they can't care for
anymore. That's not really baredout by our data.
Bridget Doherty (12:23):
So I've got kind of a personal interest in
this next question for you,which is your foster care
network. My one of my nephew'srecently fostered a dog with his
college roommates with us. Yeah.
Oh, awesome. Exactly. And I waslike, How is this happening, and
they were really into it. And itwas this beautiful German
(12:44):
Shepherd. That was a little, itwas a mature dog. And they cared
for him until he got a permanentHelm. And I thought, how I was
really curious on how thesecollege kids decided to foster.
And apparently, you have apretty robust fostering system.
Ray Anderson (13:03):
And that kind of ties in with Jeff's last
question there, of how we managethe sheer amount of intake
coming in. I mean, right nowwhat we're seeing, I haven't run
the numbers as of this morning,but I think yesterday, we're
recording this on March 9, Ithink as of yesterday morning,
we had already taken in about140 animals in the month of
(13:23):
March. And we have about 100suitable kennels in the shelter.
So obviously, that math doesn'twork out and we're already full.
So our foster is our lifelinefostering is critical to what we
do. And it's critical to what alot of rescues, and a lot of
other shelters do as well,because of that space. What
makes fostering so important isit turns the community into the
(13:46):
animal shelter. At the end ofthe day, these dogs don't belong
in a concrete kennel behind afence where maybe they get out
for an hour a day. They belongin homes, these are companion
animals, and when they're inthose foster homes, that's where
we get to learn their truepersonality. That's when we
start to see the behaviors ofhow they'll be in a home versus
in a shelter with 99 other dogsbarking around them at all
(14:09):
times. And they're stressedthey're scared they don't know
where they are, they don't havetheir people. So fostering is we
say fostering saves lives that'sliterally speaking, not only
does it help us, from a capacitystandpoint, helps the animal
from a behavioral standpoint.
And to your specific questionabout college kids. College kids
have been a huge part of what wedo. And I think bringing this
(14:29):
relatively new, no killphilosophy to Hamilton County.
Of course, a lot of people havebeen working on this for
decades. But you know, it'sreally starting to gain national
traction. It's it's youngerpeople that are motivated by
this. They're the ones that arethat are stepping up and we
recruit from colleges all thetime. And yeah, a lot of our
(14:50):
fosters are in their early 20s.
And we love them. We love them.
It's such an amazing thing. Wehave a dog right now. Her name
is majesty she came in, she waspretty injured. She had clearly
gotten into some kind of fightwith a dog. There's a difference
between did she get in a fightwith a dog on the street or dog
fight? We don't know. But shenow lives with a group of I
(15:12):
think four young women in theircollege house. And she's doing
great. Her favorite activity isone of the girls will will get
down on the floor, she'll hop onher back and she'll get a
piggyback ride.
Jeff Aluotto (15:26):
Ray, are there other strategies that you use
for setting up a successfulfoster never, I'd never would
have guessed the college kidangle. But are there other
angles you use for for settingup that foster network
Ray Anderson (15:38):
as of right now, social media is far and away,
the number one driving force ofus getting our message out. We
don't, we don't spend a lot ofmoney on marketing at the
moment. And because we think ourfunds could be allocated towards
care for animals. So really, alot of what we do is strictly
(15:58):
through social media, which ofcourse is where younger folks
are. And that really helps usget the word out. And it helps
us once we've created thisnetwork of fosters, we have our
own specific private Facebookgroup just for our foster
family, which is what we callall of our Foster's. And they're
constantly out there recruitingand to put it in, you know,
young people terms, we it goesviral, one person tells two
(16:22):
friends and they tell twofriends, and so on and so on.
And it's really word of mouthand getting the word out on
social media. That's been a hugepart of our building this quite
honestly, massive fosterprogram.
Bridget Doherty (16:33):
So if anybody's listening, what kind of foster
care options do you have? Or howdo they get involved?
Ray Anderson (16:40):
Sure, a lot of a lot of rescues, particularly
smaller rescues, yo foster withthem until the animal gets
adopted, we have a pretty loosestrategy with our foster
program. Our idea is if you'reable to give over however much
time of your schedule, that'sgoing to help us out and we're
(17:02):
gonna, we're gonna match youwith the animal that's going to
fit your lifestyle, yourschedule your home life, and
we're going to do our best tomatch you with the animal that's
going to fit that we'll havesome animals that we do think
need to stay in a foster homeuntil they get adopted, left
some that if they could just getout for two weeks, we're pretty
sure either they will getadopted, or they'll get adopted
very soon after they come backfrom from Foster. So that's a
(17:25):
huge part of what we do. On ourwebsite, Cincinnati animal
care.org, you'll see a littletab that says Get involved. And
that's where you can sign up tofoster.
Jeff Aluotto (17:34):
Are there things that people should know? If if
someone was thinking aboutadopting or fostering an animal?
What should they know? Right,right out of the gate? I'm sure
a lot of people that hear it andwant to do it. Sure. But what
are the what are the realities?
Ray Anderson (17:48):
I think the biggest hurdle to people
fostering is, I don't think Icould do it, because I don't
think I could give the animalback. And that's I think I would
want to keep them all. And thatwas totally my philosophy
towards fostering both of mydogs. I got from rescues, which
were foster to adopt, like, Itook them home, they were in a
foster based rescue, I took themhome for the week, and I knew
(18:09):
that this was going to be thedog I was adopting. But coming
into this line of work, andseeing how vital fostering is to
our program, of course, the endgoal for any animal is to get
them adopted. That is That is ofcourse what we want to do. But
an adoption saves one animal andthat's great. That's what we
absolutely need. But fosteringwe have some fosters with us
(18:33):
that have already fostered over30 animals in 18 months, and
they get to help 30 animals, youknow, I get to help a new animal
once a month, or you know, everycouple of weeks. And I think
that is a very rewardingexperience for people. Of
course, if you're thinking aboutadopting one thing I should say
about fostering as well as it'sfree, it's temporary, we provide
(18:56):
supplies, we provide veterinarycare, you'll just bring the dog
to the shelter and our vet staffwill will work with them. But if
you're thinking about adoptingthe big thing that we always say
is ask yourself, can I provide asafe loving home for this
animal? can I provide it withwith its basic needs? And is
there anything in my Is thereanything upcoming in my life
(19:18):
that may change thosecircumstances? And if you think
that you're able to take it on,I think a lot of people doubt
their abilities to foster oradopt an animal. But for the
most part, you know, love issafe loving homes come in all
shapes and sizes.
Bridget Doherty (19:34):
So, you know, I haven't really done the research
on this. But how typical isn'tfor county to contract with a no
kill provider.
Ray Anderson (19:42):
So that would that data I don't have offhand myself
either. I think that's somethingI could certainly get. I know
it's increasing. There are a lotof great organizations across
the country that are bringingthis philosophy to their county
and in counties and citieslarger than ours. Were Starting
to see this mentality. I mean,we'll take in about, I'd say
(20:03):
roughly between six and 8000animals a year. Last year, we
took in a little over 7200. So alittle on the higher side, but
we work with shelters andrescues, particularly in like
South Texas that will take in25,000 animals a year, and
they're bringing this, thisphilosophy to their communities.
So it's it's definitely goingup. But it's definitely not
(20:24):
something any of theseorganizations can do alone. We
always say life saving is acommunity ethic. And we can't
there with the sheer number ofanimals coming in. There's no
way we could be no killedwithout our community's help its
foster foster Foster is such amassive part of that no kill
mission.
Jeff Aluotto (20:43):
And with that, said, Ray, so we've talked a
little bit about fostering andadopting. How else can someone
get involved and help out withthe efforts of the shelter?
Sure. And
Ray Anderson (20:52):
I mean, I totally get it like, in my case, I have
five animals at home, as wediscussed, I can't take on any
more. My house isn't that big. Iwill occasionally take home an
overnight foster here and there.
I think my last Foster had forabout 12 hours before she got
adopted. So if you're in thatcase, we're like, oh, I have a
dog. He doesn't like other dogs.
I don't know what to do. How canI help. We have volunteer
(21:12):
opportunities available toshelter we have a walk team that
meets at least four times aweek, sometimes more, and they
walk every single dog in theshelter while they're there. And
then we also have volunteersthat graduate to next levels
where they can come in and pooltheir own dogs. Even on days
where we're not doing walkgroups of dogs are still getting
out. Of course, we have basicneeds at the shelter where
(21:36):
people can help out people canvolunteer at Kitty City if
you're more of a cat person thana dog person. Even something as
simple as like laundry anddishes. That frees up our animal
care staff to work directly withthe animals. And then if we can
get things like that off ourplate, it's not the sexiest
thing in the world, you know,coming in and doing dishes, but
it helps immensely Of course. Wealways say adopt if you can
(21:58):
adopt foster if you can't fostervolunteer, if you can't
volunteer, donate, and if youcan't donate spread the word.
Just getting the word out. It'sa very confusing change with
what happened between us andSPCA, Cincinnati SPCA Cincinnati
was here for decades, and theybecame synonymous with animal
welfare. In Cincinnati. I thinka lot of people think that the
(22:20):
name SPCA means governmententity, but anybody can call
their their rescue and SPCAjustice we call ourselves
Cincinnati Animal Care HumaneSociety, that doesn't
necessarily mean that we'reaffiliated with the ASPCA or the
Humane Society of the UnitedStates. So those are those are
names. And I think that is thathas created a lot of confusion
(22:41):
because people for so long, justyeah, the SPCA is who's in
charge. That's not the caseanymore. Cincinnati Animal Care
is your county shelter. If youlive in Hamilton County, it is
the one and only county shelter.
So getting the word out aboutthat is crucial.
Bridget Doherty (23:00):
So I follow you guys on social media and you do
a phenomenal job.
Ray Anderson (23:04):
I will be sure to tell the person that does that
they do who's in the room who'sin the room right now. Thank you
very much, right. My ego is notgonna get me through this door
later.
Bridget Doherty (23:16):
But you guys did go viral on a couple of your
posts. Sure. One of my favoritewas following Sammy Sammy, tell
our listeners a little bit aboutSammy.
Ray Anderson (23:27):
So Sammy came into the shelter. A very sad
situation CMEs and was a 19 yearold cat. His owner who had had
him those entire 19 years totalhad to go into an assisted
living facility. Couldn't takeSammy with him. Really
unfortunate. He did not want togive up this animal and we Adam,
(23:48):
he told us he's like this catsturning 19 Next week, but I
don't know what to do. So wetook Sammy in. We have a very,
very passionate, dedicated teamof cat lovers over in Kitty
City, who decided I wish I couldtake credit for this idea
because it's the greatest thingI ever saw. It's the greatest
thing we've ever done as ashelter. But they decided to
throw Sammy a birthday party forhis 19th birthday. It did go
(24:11):
viral. We were in HuffPost NewsWeek. I think there was a couple
Icelandic publications thatreached out New Zealand,
Scotland, it went everywhere.
Because of that Sammy found atremendous adopter, who local
community member worked at a vetclinic. By the time she got
Sammy home, she knew he wasn'tlong for this world. He's a 19
(24:35):
year old cat. So he really Ithink he only lived another week
after that, which of coursebroke our hearts to hear that.
But he got to live his finaldays with somebody who was so
excited to meet him and lovedhim and gave him everything he
needed. This cat was treatedlike a prince for his last his
(24:55):
last days and While we wish wecould, we could have a little
bit more time with Sammy. Hislegacy lives on at Cincinnati
animal care.
Bridget Doherty (25:06):
That's fantastic.
Jeff Aluotto (25:08):
Well, while you wish you had more time with
Sammy, I wish we had more timewith you, Ray because it's been
a really cool discussion. Reallyappreciate your time and
everything that you're doing forfor Cincinnati, Hamilton County
and animals here in thecommunity. Thank
Ray Anderson (25:22):
you so much for having me. Anytime you guys want
to talk. I'll talk about theshelter all day every day. So
that's my favorite thing to talkabout. So thank you so much for
having us.
Jeff Aluotto (25:30):
Well, we will bring you back for an update.
And for those of you listeningthanks for listening to what is
season two episode one of heartand hustle in Hamilton County.
Be sure to subscribe on Applepodcasts, Spotify and other
providers. You can find thepodcast on our website, Hamilton
County ohio.gov on the countyadministrator's page. So on
(25:50):
behalf of my co host BridgetDoherty and Cleo Felix and
nutmeg, the three cats of theLudo household. We'll see you
next time.
Hello and welcome to Heart and hustle in Hamilton
County, a podcast entirelydedicated to the people and
policies that form Hamiltoncounty government. This is
actually our first show of thenew year. So let's do a little
bit of reset. Why the name,heart and hustle vote describes
the public servants who make ourlocal government work. Each of
(00:31):
our episodes focuses on creativesolutions to the challenges that
our 49 communities face, as wellas how our different county
departments tackle thosechallenges. It's kind of a local
government 101 For listeners whoare curious and want to learn
more about their localgovernment. I'm your host, Jeff
Alito, I'm the CountyAdministrator. And with me, as
always, is communicationsmanager Bridget Doherty,
(00:52):
Bridget, can I say Happy NewYear,
Bridget Doherty (00:54):
happy new year, a couple months in a couple
months
Jeff Aluotto (00:57):
late, but you know, or post or post masking
too. So this is a good thing.
And today, Bridget, we've beendying to do this show for a
while. So we're going to dive intoday to Hamilton County's no
kill animal shelter that's runby a Cincinnati animal care. The
Hamilton County Animal Shelterfor those of you that don't know
is located in north side 3949Colerain Avenue. And under Ohio
(01:21):
law, you know, we got to get alittle wonky in these things
right. But under Ohio law,counties are responsible for
providing the function of thedog warden in the county in
2020. Hamilton County switchproviders from the SPCA with
whom we had a long standingpositive relationship with
distance any animal care, whichis a no kill animal shelter with
(01:42):
a mission to provide a safetynet for any animal need. So
joining us today is RayAnderson, the shelter's media
and community relations managerto discuss what has been like
taking over for the dog Wardenfunction, all those
responsibilities and operationsfor the past year and a half and
what it means to operate a nokill shelter. So, Ray, welcome
(02:03):
to the show. Before we discussthe shelter, I'd like to know
just that the Publican, HamiltonCounty lote know a little bit
more about you so right,welcome. And tell us about
yourself.
Ray Anderson (02:16):
Thank you so much for having me. I'm very excited
to be here. I'm really excitedto get to do this, again,
talking to microphone withheadphones on. It's been a long
time. So my background comesfrom broadcasting. Right here in
Hamilton County in Cincinnati, Ihad about a 20 year radio
career. Most recently at MCs 94,nine, Cincinnati, and my career
(02:37):
ended during the pandemic, I waspart of some some COVID related
restructuring. And I didn't knowwhat I was going to do next. And
it all happened to kind ofcoincide with Cincinnati animal
care being formed. And I had aprevious relationship with our
executive director CarolynEvans, who also runs the my
(02:57):
furry Valentine event, MCs 94Nine, and my furry Valentine
were partners in that event, andI was always there. And I got to
know all the various sheltersand rescues around town. And it
just so happened that anopportunity to join the shelter
when the organization was beingformed in 2020 happened right at
the same time. And it was Imean, very fortuitous for me
(03:18):
because this is something I'vealways wanted to do, which is
work with animals, but I don'thave the science or intelligence
to be a veterinarian. So this isa really great opportunity for
me. Well, we're
Jeff Aluotto (03:28):
happy to have you here. And unfortunately, COVID
you know, shut a lot of doors ona lot of people. And a lot of
terrible ways. But you know, Ithink we've all gotten up to
speed, maybe more so than wewould like seeing the silver
lining and some of the thingsthat COVID has forced us to do
or opportunities that opened itup. So for you it actually
(03:48):
opened up an opportunity intothe animal care world.
Ray Anderson (03:51):
I would Yeah, I would say losing my job was the
greatest thing that everhappened to me getting to do
this. This is what I've beenwaiting my life to do.
Bridget Doherty (04:00):
That's so cool.
So first question out of thegate. Sure. Full disclosure, how
many animals do you own?
Ray Anderson (04:06):
I have five pets of my own at home. I have two
cat guys, three cats and twodogs.
Bridget Doherty (04:11):
So I always feel like that's an important
question when you're talkingabout the dog Warden services at
the county. Oh, sure. When wetalk to commissioners, the you
know, like how many pets do youactually own? Before you get
into this conversation now, whenwe did have that great
relationship with the SPCA, andDarrell, it Harold dates was
around. He always brought in ananimal during that the
(04:32):
commission meetings which waskind of
Ray Anderson (04:33):
I'm sorry, I didn't bring a dog for the
podcast. I know. I'm so sorry.
Had I had I known I would Iwould have brought one over.
Bridget Doherty (04:40):
Maybe we could edit some dogs in the back row
but we do.
Jeff Aluotto (04:45):
I've got regular update meetings that our budget
director Assistant AdministratorJohn Bergen I have with Carolyn
on a regular basis and she hasbeen nice enough to bring even
though we've been doing thesevirtually through COVID that she
will bring dogs onto onto thatOccasionally, just because she
knows my attention span needs tobe woken up with the dog got to
see a puppy. Absolutely,absolutely. So, Ray, tell us
(05:10):
first a little bit about some ofthe shelter services that
Cincinnati animal care doesprovide to the county. Sure.
Ray Anderson (05:16):
So you touched on it a little bit there in the
intro of course, per the OhioRevised Code. Every county in
the state of Ohio is required toprovide stray dog pickup and
stray dog hold for three days. Alot of counties throughout the
state will partner with theHumane Society to run shelter
operations, which is what we dohere in Hamilton County.
(05:37):
Previous operator was SPCACincinnati as of August 1 2020.
That is now Cincinnati animalcare. So in addition to
providing stray dog pickup andstray dog hold for three days,
which is handled by the HamiltonCounty dog wardens are typically
the ones going out collectingthe strays. We also provide the
animal shelter, we run theanimal shelter. any stray dog
(05:59):
that comes through HamiltonCounty comes to Cincinnati
animal care. After that threedays, that three day hold is up.
Typically, that's when a dogwill go up for adoption. We
provide adoption services,adoption counseling for both
dogs, cats, the occasionalrabbit, guinea pig, the
occasional mouse gerbil, I thinkthere might be a bearded dragon,
(06:21):
here and there over the years,you know, if they if it's an
animal and animals and county, alot of times it comes to us. So
we provide those adoptionservices. We also have a robust
foster program. That's part ofwhat we do. Kitty City with our
big cat areas, something that wedo. Pretty much anything animal
(06:42):
related in Hamilton County isgoing to come through us.
Jeff Aluotto (06:45):
So Ray, the follow up on that. Explain what a no
kill shelter is, and how thatmight differ from a typical
animal shelter for those who maybe unfamiliar. Sure, and
Ray Anderson (06:56):
that's a great question. And the phrase no kill
is definitely something thatgets thrown around a lot. That
I'm not sure if people trulyknow what what the exact
definition is. And for us, we'rea no kill animal shelter, which
means we do not euthanize forspace, convenience, or a
(07:19):
feeling. We're not like, oh,that dog kind of has a weird
look, we better put them downlike that's that's not what we
do. And I think traditionally,through animal sheltering people
are used to the animal shelterbeing the dog pound, and the
days of the dog pound are goingaway. And nationally, we're
starting to see this we workwith a lot of other shelters
throughout the country, to bringthis no kill mission to Hamilton
(07:42):
County, which is a very big areato be bringing this mission to
and it's challenging to do. Butwhat it really means is that no
kill means that we onlyeuthanize in the event of a
serious injury, grave illness,or we believe there's an
imminent threat to publicsafety. Euthanasia literally
(08:02):
translates to to end suffering.
So that's when we make thedecision to euthanize an animal.
It doesn't mean that you know,animals come in, and no matter
what condition they're in, nomatter what their temperament.
They're never ever, ever goingto be euthanized. But that is a
decision that we don't takelightly, is what that means. And
we only euthanize in thosesituations where it is deemed
medically behaviorallynecessary.
Bridget Doherty (08:26):
So you had mentioned when you first came
on, it was during COVID. And soyou guys basically took over the
contract at that right in thebeginning of the pandemic, I
think it was like August.
Ray Anderson (08:37):
Yeah, so we probably about three months into
the panda bears, I'm sorry,about seven months into the
pandemic, when we took over onAugust 1 of 2020. Gotcha.
Bridget Doherty (08:45):
And what was that experience like running the
the dog shelter operationsduring a pandemic? So
Ray Anderson (08:51):
everybody heard the stories during the beginning
of the pandemic, that animalshelters were getting cleared
out. That's what everybodyheard. That was the big
headline. By around that time,though, people were starting, we
were starting to, quote unquote,reopen. Of course, you know,
there were still a lot of thingsin place and still a lot of
moving parts. But you know, mymom works in restaurants. I'm
(09:11):
pretty sure she started goingback to work around May, maybe
June is when she went back towork when the pandemic started.
So we came on board. After allthe shelters had been cleared.
When we came into the shelter onday one in Northside at 3949
Colerain Avenue, there werealready about 90 dogs in the
building. And we have about thespace for maybe we consider we
(09:32):
have 100, suitable kennels, fordogs. So we were already
operating at capacity. And Ithink at that particular moment
in the pandemic, was when therewas a lot of uncertainty. You
know, early on in the pandemic,we're going to be at home for a
while you're going to be workingfrom home for a while, so you
can go get a dog. But once wewere starting that read that
slow reopening, and then youknow kind of closing back up
(09:54):
again in the fall of 2020. Andthen you know, those hills and
valleys throughout 2021. I thinkthere's a lot of uncertainty and
when there's a lot ofuncertainty, kinda like back in
2008, when we saw the housingcollapse, that's probably when
people are least likely to takeon a big life change, like
adopting a dog. So that's,that's our biggest hurdle that I
(10:15):
think we've been facing sincecoming on board during the
pandemic, is we didn't get thatluxury of clearing the shelter
out. And now we're dealing,we're still dealing with a lot
of uncertainty. And even now, aswe're, you know, reopened and
mass mandates are going away,there's still a lot, there's a
weird climate throughout notjust Hamilton County, but the
country, the world right now.
And I think that makes peoplenervous about taking on such a
(10:38):
big change.
Jeff Aluotto (10:42):
So speaking of that, and this is maybe a little
bit of a loaded question. Butthe demand for shelter services
just continues to be so high inthis community. So talk just a
little bit about how theshoulder goes about dealing with
all of that demand and theconstant flow of activity.
There's no break, I can imagineit just it's constantly there.
Ray Anderson (11:05):
Yeah, that was a big thing in my previous line of
work, where when things wouldget really busy, or really
tough, or like, I just got toget through the, I gotta get
through the spring book. Once weget through the spring ratings,
period, I'm gonna be good, I'lltake a little vacation,
everything be fine. Doing thisjob. I'm like, I just got to get
through everything and neverstops. And we've already seen
probably about a 40% increase intotal animal intake over the
(11:28):
last six months. But the sixmonths before that, we're no
picnic, either. We're we've beendealing with a massive increase,
particularly in stray dogscoming in off the street. And I
and I do want to say in regardsto COVID in the pandemic, it's a
common narrative that what we'reseeing is people who rushed out
to get these dogs during thepandemic are bringing them back.
(11:50):
Now, if that were the case, wewould be seeing if these were
dogs adopted from reputableshelters or rescues, they'd be
coming in spayed and neuteredmicrochipped, they'd have some
kind of identification to them.
But that's not we're seeingwe're seeing on altered animals,
non microchipped animals, mostlikely backyard breeding
situations is what's coming intothe shelter. So I don't think I
think running the AI the commonnarrative that it's people
(12:14):
rushing out and returning dogsthat they can't care for
anymore. That's not really baredout by our data.
Bridget Doherty (12:23):
So I've got kind of a personal interest in
this next question for you,which is your foster care
network. My one of my nephew'srecently fostered a dog with his
college roommates with us. Yeah.
Oh, awesome. Exactly. And I waslike, How is this happening, and
they were really into it. And itwas this beautiful German
(12:44):
Shepherd. That was a little, itwas a mature dog. And they cared
for him until he got a permanentHelm. And I thought, how I was
really curious on how thesecollege kids decided to foster.
And apparently, you have apretty robust fostering system.
Ray Anderson (13:03):
And that kind of ties in with Jeff's last
question there, of how we managethe sheer amount of intake
coming in. I mean, right nowwhat we're seeing, I haven't run
the numbers as of this morning,but I think yesterday, we're
recording this on March 9, Ithink as of yesterday morning,
we had already taken in about140 animals in the month of
(13:23):
March. And we have about 100suitable kennels in the shelter.
So obviously, that math doesn'twork out and we're already full.
So our foster is our lifelinefostering is critical to what we
do. And it's critical to what alot of rescues, and a lot of
other shelters do as well,because of that space. What
makes fostering so important isit turns the community into the
(13:46):
animal shelter. At the end ofthe day, these dogs don't belong
in a concrete kennel behind afence where maybe they get out
for an hour a day. They belongin homes, these are companion
animals, and when they're inthose foster homes, that's where
we get to learn their truepersonality. That's when we
start to see the behaviors ofhow they'll be in a home versus
in a shelter with 99 other dogsbarking around them at all
(14:09):
times. And they're stressedthey're scared they don't know
where they are, they don't havetheir people. So fostering is we
say fostering saves lives that'sliterally speaking, not only
does it help us, from a capacitystandpoint, helps the animal
from a behavioral standpoint.
And to your specific questionabout college kids. College kids
have been a huge part of what wedo. And I think bringing this
(14:29):
relatively new, no killphilosophy to Hamilton County.
Of course, a lot of people havebeen working on this for
decades. But you know, it'sreally starting to gain national
traction. It's it's youngerpeople that are motivated by
this. They're the ones that arethat are stepping up and we
recruit from colleges all thetime. And yeah, a lot of our
(14:50):
fosters are in their early 20s.
And we love them. We love them.
It's such an amazing thing. Wehave a dog right now. Her name
is majesty she came in, she waspretty injured. She had clearly
gotten into some kind of fightwith a dog. There's a difference
between did she get in a fightwith a dog on the street or dog
fight? We don't know. But shenow lives with a group of I
(15:12):
think four young women in theircollege house. And she's doing
great. Her favorite activity isone of the girls will will get
down on the floor, she'll hop onher back and she'll get a
piggyback ride.
Jeff Aluotto (15:26):
Ray, are there other strategies that you use
for setting up a successfulfoster never, I'd never would
have guessed the college kidangle. But are there other
angles you use for for settingup that foster network
Ray Anderson (15:38):
as of right now, social media is far and away,
the number one driving force ofus getting our message out. We
don't, we don't spend a lot ofmoney on marketing at the
moment. And because we think ourfunds could be allocated towards
care for animals. So really, alot of what we do is strictly
(15:58):
through social media, which ofcourse is where younger folks
are. And that really helps usget the word out. And it helps
us once we've created thisnetwork of fosters, we have our
own specific private Facebookgroup just for our foster
family, which is what we callall of our Foster's. And they're
constantly out there recruitingand to put it in, you know,
young people terms, we it goesviral, one person tells two
(16:22):
friends and they tell twofriends, and so on and so on.
And it's really word of mouthand getting the word out on
social media. That's been a hugepart of our building this quite
honestly, massive fosterprogram.
Bridget Doherty (16:33):
So if anybody's listening, what kind of foster
care options do you have? Or howdo they get involved?
Ray Anderson (16:40):
Sure, a lot of a lot of rescues, particularly
smaller rescues, yo foster withthem until the animal gets
adopted, we have a pretty loosestrategy with our foster
program. Our idea is if you'reable to give over however much
time of your schedule, that'sgoing to help us out and we're
(17:02):
gonna, we're gonna match youwith the animal that's going to
fit your lifestyle, yourschedule your home life, and
we're going to do our best tomatch you with the animal that's
going to fit that we'll havesome animals that we do think
need to stay in a foster homeuntil they get adopted, left
some that if they could just getout for two weeks, we're pretty
sure either they will getadopted, or they'll get adopted
very soon after they come backfrom from Foster. So that's a
(17:25):
huge part of what we do. On ourwebsite, Cincinnati animal
care.org, you'll see a littletab that says Get involved. And
that's where you can sign up tofoster.
Jeff Aluotto (17:34):
Are there things that people should know? If if
someone was thinking aboutadopting or fostering an animal?
What should they know? Right,right out of the gate? I'm sure
a lot of people that hear it andwant to do it. Sure. But what
are the what are the realities?
Ray Anderson (17:48):
I think the biggest hurdle to people
fostering is, I don't think Icould do it, because I don't
think I could give the animalback. And that's I think I would
want to keep them all. And thatwas totally my philosophy
towards fostering both of mydogs. I got from rescues, which
were foster to adopt, like, Itook them home, they were in a
foster based rescue, I took themhome for the week, and I knew
(18:09):
that this was going to be thedog I was adopting. But coming
into this line of work, andseeing how vital fostering is to
our program, of course, the endgoal for any animal is to get
them adopted. That is That is ofcourse what we want to do. But
an adoption saves one animal andthat's great. That's what we
absolutely need. But fosteringwe have some fosters with us
(18:33):
that have already fostered over30 animals in 18 months, and
they get to help 30 animals, youknow, I get to help a new animal
once a month, or you know, everycouple of weeks. And I think
that is a very rewardingexperience for people. Of
course, if you're thinking aboutadopting one thing I should say
about fostering as well as it'sfree, it's temporary, we provide
(18:56):
supplies, we provide veterinarycare, you'll just bring the dog
to the shelter and our vet staffwill will work with them. But if
you're thinking about adoptingthe big thing that we always say
is ask yourself, can I provide asafe loving home for this
animal? can I provide it withwith its basic needs? And is
there anything in my Is thereanything upcoming in my life
(19:18):
that may change thosecircumstances? And if you think
that you're able to take it on,I think a lot of people doubt
their abilities to foster oradopt an animal. But for the
most part, you know, love issafe loving homes come in all
shapes and sizes.
Bridget Doherty (19:34):
So, you know, I haven't really done the research
on this. But how typical isn'tfor county to contract with a no
kill provider.
Ray Anderson (19:42):
So that would that data I don't have offhand myself
either. I think that's somethingI could certainly get. I know
it's increasing. There are a lotof great organizations across
the country that are bringingthis philosophy to their county
and in counties and citieslarger than ours. Were Starting
to see this mentality. I mean,we'll take in about, I'd say
(20:03):
roughly between six and 8000animals a year. Last year, we
took in a little over 7200. So alittle on the higher side, but
we work with shelters andrescues, particularly in like
South Texas that will take in25,000 animals a year, and
they're bringing this, thisphilosophy to their communities.
So it's it's definitely goingup. But it's definitely not
(20:24):
something any of theseorganizations can do alone. We
always say life saving is acommunity ethic. And we can't
there with the sheer number ofanimals coming in. There's no
way we could be no killedwithout our community's help its
foster foster Foster is such amassive part of that no kill
mission.
Jeff Aluotto (20:43):
And with that, said, Ray, so we've talked a
little bit about fostering andadopting. How else can someone
get involved and help out withthe efforts of the shelter?
Sure. And
Ray Anderson (20:52):
I mean, I totally get it like, in my case, I have
five animals at home, as wediscussed, I can't take on any
more. My house isn't that big. Iwill occasionally take home an
overnight foster here and there.
I think my last Foster had forabout 12 hours before she got
adopted. So if you're in thatcase, we're like, oh, I have a
dog. He doesn't like other dogs.
I don't know what to do. How canI help. We have volunteer
(21:12):
opportunities available toshelter we have a walk team that
meets at least four times aweek, sometimes more, and they
walk every single dog in theshelter while they're there. And
then we also have volunteersthat graduate to next levels
where they can come in and pooltheir own dogs. Even on days
where we're not doing walkgroups of dogs are still getting
out. Of course, we have basicneeds at the shelter where
(21:36):
people can help out people canvolunteer at Kitty City if
you're more of a cat person thana dog person. Even something as
simple as like laundry anddishes. That frees up our animal
care staff to work directly withthe animals. And then if we can
get things like that off ourplate, it's not the sexiest
thing in the world, you know,coming in and doing dishes, but
it helps immensely Of course. Wealways say adopt if you can
(21:58):
adopt foster if you can't fostervolunteer, if you can't
volunteer, donate, and if youcan't donate spread the word.
Just getting the word out. It'sa very confusing change with
what happened between us andSPCA, Cincinnati SPCA Cincinnati
was here for decades, and theybecame synonymous with animal
welfare. In Cincinnati. I thinka lot of people think that the
(22:20):
name SPCA means governmententity, but anybody can call
their their rescue and SPCAjustice we call ourselves
Cincinnati Animal Care HumaneSociety, that doesn't
necessarily mean that we'reaffiliated with the ASPCA or the
Humane Society of the UnitedStates. So those are those are
names. And I think that is thathas created a lot of confusion
(22:41):
because people for so long, justyeah, the SPCA is who's in
charge. That's not the caseanymore. Cincinnati Animal Care
is your county shelter. If youlive in Hamilton County, it is
the one and only county shelter.
So getting the word out aboutthat is crucial.
Bridget Doherty (23:00):
So I follow you guys on social media and you do
a phenomenal job.
Ray Anderson (23:04):
I will be sure to tell the person that does that
they do who's in the room who'sin the room right now. Thank you
very much, right. My ego is notgonna get me through this door
later.
Bridget Doherty (23:16):
But you guys did go viral on a couple of your
posts. Sure. One of my favoritewas following Sammy Sammy, tell
our listeners a little bit aboutSammy.
Ray Anderson (23:27):
So Sammy came into the shelter. A very sad
situation CMEs and was a 19 yearold cat. His owner who had had
him those entire 19 years totalhad to go into an assisted
living facility. Couldn't takeSammy with him. Really
unfortunate. He did not want togive up this animal and we Adam,
(23:48):
he told us he's like this catsturning 19 Next week, but I
don't know what to do. So wetook Sammy in. We have a very,
very passionate, dedicated teamof cat lovers over in Kitty
City, who decided I wish I couldtake credit for this idea
because it's the greatest thingI ever saw. It's the greatest
thing we've ever done as ashelter. But they decided to
throw Sammy a birthday party forhis 19th birthday. It did go
(24:11):
viral. We were in HuffPost NewsWeek. I think there was a couple
Icelandic publications thatreached out New Zealand,
Scotland, it went everywhere.
Because of that Sammy found atremendous adopter, who local
community member worked at a vetclinic. By the time she got
Sammy home, she knew he wasn'tlong for this world. He's a 19
(24:35):
year old cat. So he really Ithink he only lived another week
after that, which of coursebroke our hearts to hear that.
But he got to live his finaldays with somebody who was so
excited to meet him and lovedhim and gave him everything he
needed. This cat was treatedlike a prince for his last his
(24:55):
last days and While we wish wecould, we could have a little
bit more time with Sammy. Hislegacy lives on at Cincinnati
animal care.
Bridget Doherty (25:06):
That's fantastic.
Jeff Aluotto (25:08):
Well, while you wish you had more time with
Sammy, I wish we had more timewith you, Ray because it's been
a really cool discussion. Reallyappreciate your time and
everything that you're doing forfor Cincinnati, Hamilton County
and animals here in thecommunity. Thank
Ray Anderson (25:22):
you so much for having me. Anytime you guys want
to talk. I'll talk about theshelter all day every day. So
that's my favorite thing to talkabout. So thank you so much for
having us.
Jeff Aluotto (25:30):
Well, we will bring you back for an update.
And for those of you listeningthanks for listening to what is
season two episode one of heartand hustle in Hamilton County.
Be sure to subscribe on Applepodcasts, Spotify and other
providers. You can find thepodcast on our website, Hamilton
County ohio.gov on the countyadministrator's page. So on
(25:50):
behalf of my co host BridgetDoherty and Cleo Felix and
nutmeg, the three cats of theLudo household. We'll see you
next time.
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