As the year draws to a close, it’s time to sit down and reflect about everything that happened in 2014. There have been many joys over the year, but the biggest is our numbers.

In 2011 — before the rescue got started — Lawrence County’s kill rate was more than 90 percent, the highest percentage in Ohio. Of the 2,000 dogs that came in that year more than 1,800 were put down.

The Friends of Lawrence County Rescue was formed in August of 2012 and that year 1,700 dogs came in and 675 were put down. In 2013, which was the first full year we worked hand-in-hand with the warden and the shelter, of the 1,600 dogs that came in only 250 were put to sleep.

This year has been a banner year for us. We have taken in 1,500 dogs for the year and of those, 125 have been euthanized. That means that in less than three years the kill rate at the shelter has gone from 90 percent to 7 percent. We could not have done it without all the rescues, all the people who share our dogs, who help transport, and who donate money. We could not have saved nearly as many if it weren’t for everyone’s help. We are so proud of everyone’s hard work in helping us change this shelter.

We have had other joys as well. We received our business license and are trying to work towards our 501(c)3. The dog warden agreed to start vaccinating and worming the dogs upon intake, which has cut down greatly on the amount of sickness at the pound and we now have Saturday hours at the shelter.

These have been very big accomplishments for us to say the least and show how much the dog warden is willing to work with us and make the changes needed.

We look towards 2015 with excitement. The new “Cat Shack” was delivered. We had an angel give us enough money for the down payment so the building has been ordered. We will be giving more information out on this in the near future though. We also look forward to working with our rescue friends in the coming year and helping out all the animals in Lawrence County.

Again, we would like to say thank you to our supporters. We could not have made the changes at the shelter without all of your help and continued support.

Thank you to all the rescues who have pulled from us in 2014 and we look forward to working with you again in 2015 and we hope there will be new rescues as well. We want to wish everyone a very safe and happy New Year and may 2015 be even better than 2014.

 

FOLC Rescue

Missy Coburn, Kelli Fuhr and Melissa Nicely