YOUNGSTOWN — Animal Charity of Ohio is struggling, and Mahoning County officials say they’ll work to ensure a temporary problem doesn’t become a long-term problem for the whole community.

Just over two weeks ago, Animal Charity suspended its animal control program for lack of funding. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit provides both humane and animal control services across the county at no cost to taxpayers, operating on donation revenues.

At a special meeting Tuesday, Animal Charity Board President and Interim Executive Director Jenny Falvey asked Mahoning County commissioners to consider an official contract for services with the agency, to the tune of $350,000.

“We’ve offered this service to the county for free for years and we cannot absorb that cost any more,” she told The Vindicator. “Our need is sustained funding. Our goal is simply to get help for the service we’re providing for the animals and people in this community.”

The organization is only obligated by its charter to provide humane services, which it continues to do. Until more reliable funding is obtained, though, animal control services are on hold.

ACO is the only humane agency in the county authorized under Ohio Revised Code to investigate cases of animal cruelty, abuse and neglect, and enforce state laws. It regularly uses an outside law firm to prosecute those cases, although many more serious crimes also are filed through the Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office.

While it must maintain those operations, it is not required to provide services such as capturing stray or loose dogs, responding to dog bites, enforcing licensing and leash laws, investigating dangerous dog complaints, handling nuisance animal complaints and other animal control tasks, although it regularly did until two weeks ago.

In addition to its primary humane and control services, ACO also provides the Charlie’s WISH program to support seniors who need help caring for their pets; the Vets With Pets WISH program, a low-cost veterinary clinic, low-cost grooming salon and pet food pantry.

The agency provides services for both domestic and farm animals, operating on donations, fundraising events, grants and limited revenue streams.

Falvey’s presentation to commissioners showed that Animal Charity will operate on a $1.9 million budget this year, even as its average daily housing total has increased by nearly 19% over 2025.

Mahoning County has provided support for Animal Charity in the past. In 2023, for example, commissioners provided two separate $250,000 awards for plumbing in the agency’s new building and to support humane agent salaries.

ANIMAL CONTROL

Animal control agents step in to address a wide variety of concerns and problems. When pet owners are hospitalized, sent to rehab or a nursing facility, arrested or incarcerated, evicted or otherwise rendered homeless — such as in the case of a fire or deceased owner — animal control goes to work as it also does in domestic violence cases. They also execute search warrants when notified of animals potentially living in abusive or inhumane conditions.

The agency helps injured strays and intervenes in hoarding situations, which most often involve cats.

The agents are dispatched when ACO is contacted by police, fire, code enforcement, adult-or-child protective services, or other partner agencies, notifying them of an animal in need or a concerning situation. When those pets are brought to Animal Charity’s shelter, they receive a clean kennel with food, water, a blanket and toys. If the agency is unable to find a relative of the owner to take care of the pet, the animal is treated for any basic or emergency needs.

They receive vaccinations if there is no vaccine record, and they are tested for heartworm, parasites and many infectious diseases.

Falvey said animals stay in the agency’s care until they can be returned to the owner, or until it is determined that they cannot be returned, at which time they are made fit for adoption, if possible.

Falvey told commissioners that only 7% (21) of the 294 animals brought into their care this way in 2026 have been able to be returned to their owners. The cost of boarding them is $20 per day, but only 13% of owners can afford that cost. She said the agency never withholds an animal from its owner over money.

As of Tuesday, ACO’s roster included 66 dogs, 226 cats, one tortoise and one turtle. On Thursday, its humane agents seized six dogs from a house in Coitsville.

The total cost for caring for all animals in the facility through May was more than $156,000.

The average length of stay for a control pet is 94 days, and the average daily cost to ACO for just basic care is $23.14. So the average cost for keeping control animals is just over $2,175 if there’s nothing wrong with them, but there often is.

Mahoning County, she said, does harbor dog fighting and cock fighting operations. Animals are kept in abhorrent conditions, tied outside in extremely cold or hot conditions, some with nothing but a plastic barrel for shelter from the elements. Animals are beaten, stabbed, shot, burned, poisoned, starved, dragged and killed. Kittens are shot with BB guns and dogs are tethered by chains so heavy they cannot lift up their heads, they said.

Humane and control agents walk into houses that expose them to all manner of unhealthy and toxic conditions. They regularly leave scenes that require them to decontaminate themselves afterward. They are routinely threatened, sometimes assaulted, and have to wear bulletproof vests on the job. In 2021, Mahoning County deputy dog warden Dave Nelson was stabbed on the job and retired not long after his recovery from the incident.

THE REAL PROBLEM

Falvey noted that while control activities can be suspended, the agency’s charter does not allow it to refuse humane intakes. Operations on the humane side must continue, regardless of costs.

She said the issue is not only one of caring for animals or helping their owners, but also a matter of public health.

“When you think about what can happen to these animals, these are pets, but you also have cases of hoarding,” she said. “If we don’t step in, they may be released as strays, and then infectious disease spreads outside to other animals and humans, you get disease spreading and unsanitary conditions inside the house as well.”

Falvey said her agency is not asking for money for extras, but only to be able to maintain the services they provide now. In fact, she sees all too well the limitations of the animal rescue industry.

“Warehousing and sheltering is not the answer. What’s the core issue — we have to stop pet overpopulation, do more to assist people with that, and hold people accountable when it goes beyond that,” she said. “We’re in a position in the rescue industry to recognize there are too many animals and not enough homes, so we’re not adopting our way out of this.”

She said providing resources along with public education about the problem and its solutions is the best medicine. But they still need boots on the ground to handle the daily crises the problem generates.

“This is not going to change, in fact I think it’s probably going to worsen,” she said. “We have to be able to provide resources. There’s got to be ways, but it takes the government (referring to all levels of authority) to understand it’s a priority, and until that happens I don’t think we’ll see a change.”

Commissioner Geno DiFabio said that change could well be coming at the county level.

“A lot of the information we got here today is information we did not have. And we do see the problem,” he said Tuesday. “We’re going to work on this, and see what we can do long-term for something for Animal Charity, because it affects all of us.”