SUMMIT COUNTY, Ohio, Dec. 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Alley Cat Allies, the leader of the global movement to protect cats and kittens, filed a lawsuit today in the Court of Common Pleas against Summit County, Ohio, and its county-operated animal shelter to stop the needless, cruel, and illegal killing of cats.
Alley Cat Allies is asking the Court to order Summit County to immediately cease its inhumane killing of cats and dogs in contravention of the law, among other relief.
Summit County Animal shelter which, despite being one of the most highly funded county-operated shelters in Ohio, has traditionally failed to implement basic industry standard shelter management programs to ensure successful outcomes for the cats and dogs in its care.
Biscuit, a community cat in Summit County, Ohio.
"The Summit County Animal Control Department is a law enforcement entity meant to uphold the laws. Instead, it is improperly and inhumanely 'euthanizing' animals and killing cats for simply being deemed 'feral'," said DanaMarie Pannella, attorney, Alley Cat Allies. "Stopping the senseless and inhumane killing of cats is our top priority. The next step for Summit County is to create a humane animal control agency that adheres to laws and best practices, including Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), and guarantees real protection for animals."
The filing comes after Alley Cat Allies, via public records requests, uncovered disturbing evidence of cats and dogs at the Summit County shelter being killed inhumanely by underdosing or otherwise improperly administering euthanasia drugs. In some instances, these killings violated even the shelter's own outdated euthanasia policy.
According to the suit, Summit County also kills cats its staff deems to be too "feral" while also accepting surrendered cats with disregard for whether a cat is a community cat, AKA an unowned cat who lives outdoors and is not socialized to live indoors with people. Some of these cats have been needlessly killed the same day they arrived at the shelter.
Alley Cat Allies has long been concerned about the plight of cats in the Summit County shelter which, despite being one of the most highly funded county-operated shelters in Ohio, has traditionally failed to implement basic industry standard shelter management programs to ensure successful outcomes for the cats and dogs in its care.
Along with taking legal action to stop the inhumane killing, Alley Cat Allies is urging Summit County to support and implement Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR). Through TNR, community cats are humanely trapped; brought to a veterinary clinic to be spayed or neutered, eartipped (the universal sign that a cat has been spayed or neutered through a TNR program), and vaccinated; and then are returned to their original outdoor homes. TNR is the only humane and effective approach to community cats.
(Note to editors: Copies of the filing with the Court of Common Pleas in Summit County, Ohio, are available upon request.)
SOURCE Alley Cat Allies
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