VIENNA — The Trumbull County Animal Welfare League has seen a great increase in the number of animals entering its shelter as a result of humane investigations from 2020 through 2022.

The coronavirus pandemic not only impacted many Trumbull county families but also their dogs, cats and other pets, according to the league’s chief executive.

The Animal Welfare League responded to 1,675 humane investigation calls in 2020; 1,834 calls in 2021 and 2,007 calls in 2022, according to Lorilyn Shandor, chief executive officer with the nonprofit organization.

“So far, we are trending to, at least, maintain that increase in 2023,” she said. “This is happening throughout the county, not just the bigger cities like Girard and Warren.”

The nonprofit last week asked the Trumbull County commissioners to provide $250,000 from the county’s remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds.

Commissioner Mauro Cantalamessa said the AWL now needs to make a formal request through the county’s ARPA portal to begin the process for consideration.

“Once it is in the portal, the majority of the board will need to agree the request should be sent through our legal process for consideration,” Cantalamessa said. “If legal decides it qualifies, then commissioners will decide whether to support the application.”

LEAGUE’S BUDGET

The AWL would use the money to purchase a new rescue van, $30,000 to help county residents needing assistance with veterinary bills; $15,000 for pet food; $25,000 for low-cost spay / neuter services; and $100,000 for the care of animals brought into its shelter because of humane investigations.

The AWL’s approved 2023 budget is more than $1.9 million. This year’s budget represents an 84 percent increase over a three-year period. It is funded completely through grants and donations.

It has a staff of 12 full-time employees and 25 part time.

“The majority of our increased costs has been because of staffing and food and equipment needed for the care of the animals,” Shandor said.

Prior to the pandemic, the AWL, on average, had about 100 animals being sheltered at its facility on a daily basis, according to Shandor. Today, it has a daily average of 170.

“To maintain the same level of care, we need more employees,” she said. “We’ve had a 61 percent overall increase in the number of animals coming into our shelter over the last three years.”

The league’s headquarters is on 20 acres at 812 Youngstown Kingsville Road in Vienna.

INVESTIGATIONS

AWL’s humane department brought in 377 animals to its shelter due to animal cruelty investigations in 2020, which increased to 942 in 2022.

Humane investigation calls include people who purposely are harming their animals; those who are hoarding 10, 20, 30 animals or more in homes not equipped to having that number; and sometimes people who simply don’t have the means to care for their animals.

“There have been cases in which an individual may have taken in too many animals and, because they were not spayed or neutered, the pets continued to reproduce,” Shandor said. “With the pandemic, it was harder to make appointments for the surgeries.”

Shandor said they speculate there has been an increasing number of humane cases because of people being locked down, which caused increased mental and emotional stress and families experiencing financial insecurities.

“There has been correlation between people involved with acts of animal cruelty and those involved with domestic violence,” she said.

The AWL is the only agency outside of law enforcement agencies in Trumbull County that has the authority to investigate animal cruelty complaints.

“We have two full-time agents on the road six days a week investigating complaints,” she said. “We have been seeing more of the most egregious types since the pandemic, including a big jump of hoarding cases.”

Last year, the agency took in 13 species of animals, with the most being dogs, cats and birds.

Of those humane cases investigated, the agencies took 38 cases to court from 2020 through 2022.

“There are an additional 48 cases that we intend to file charges on, and are compiling the required documents,” Shandor said.

COURT CASES

Among the cases that were investigated and made it through the court system is that of Corvette Brown and Ticarra Blackwell.

In March 2022, Brown, of Warren, pleaded no contest and was found guilty of four counts of prohibitions concerning companion animals, a second-degree misdemeanor.

Brown originally was charged Dec. 3, 2021, with six counts of the prohibitions concerning companion animals, plus cruelty to animals and abandoning animals.

Two of the prohibitions and the other two charges were dismissed, court records show.

Reports showed several abandoned cats in a home in September 2021 on Judith Street SE in Warren, where conditions were described as “deplorable” with trash and empty cat food and drink containers strewn throughout.

Six living cats, who were diagnosed as flea-bitten and dehydrated, were rescued from the home, according to Shandor, and taken to a vet. Three or four cats found at the home were dead, Shandor said, with four of the rescued cats having survived.

Although Brown was sentenced to 90 days in jail, 80 days were suspended. She also received five years of probation and is not allowed to own or possess any pets, according to court records.

Blackwell, in March 2021, pleaded no contest and was found guilty of a midemeanor charge of abandoning animals. A charge of cruelty to animals was dismissed.

She was sentenced to 90 days in jail, but all were suspended. She also was placed on five years of probation and is not allowed to own a pet.

“She moved out of her home and left her injured dog behind,” Shandor said. “Ultimately, AWL had to amputate the dog’s legs.”

Shandor said in the majority of the cases resulting in convictions, the defendants receive probation and have to pay fines.

PROBLEMS ELSEWHERE

The problem is happening in other places in Ohio, as well as in other states.

In Youngstown, Animal Charity Humane Society raided an Osborne Avenue home in which investigators found 21 living and five dead animals.

Animal Charity officials were in the house for three days removing the animals, according to its website.

The cats reportedly were dehydrated, some had serious wounds, and others had upper respiratory infections.

This was the third hoarding case that Animal Charity agents dealt with during a 10-day period.

Sharon Harvey, director of the advocacy group Animal Welfare Federation of Ohio and the CEO of the Cleveland Animal Protection League, said leagues and other animal care organizations across the state are experiencing many of the same kinds of problems as in the Mahoning Valley.

The Animal Welfare Federation of Ohio has more than 80 member organizations statewide.

“Of course, some concerns may be different based on location and the availability of assistance,” Harvey said.

“When the country shut down in March 2020 due to COVID-19, we (in Cuyahoga County) had a reduction in the number of animal intakes because of COVID restrictions,” Harvey said. “Since everything has begun reopening, our percentage of general intakes of animals has gone up by 70 percent. We have now exceeded our 2019 prepandemic numbers.”

“In 2023, year to date, our numbers are 27 percent greater than they were in 2022,” Harvey said.

Harvey said there is no statewide organization that maintains an annual count of the number of animals being brought into AWLs and other agencies that accept abandoned creatures and place them in new homes.

Harvey said the Cleveland-area organization has been experiencing an imbalance in the number of animals being brought to its shelter compared to the number of animals leaving it through any resource.

“We don’t euthanize animals to control the shelter’s population,” Harvey said.

In the U.S., on average, there are 4 percent more animals entering shelters than are going out through adoption or being returned to their owners, according to Harvey. Ohio averages 7 percent more animals entering shelters than are leaving through adoptions or being returned to their owners.

“There is a bottleneck in the middle,” Harvey said. “We need to find ways to solve the disparity, where the same percentage is coming in that’s going out.”