County dog shelter receives grant
By NANCY WHITAKER
Progress Staff Writer
PAULDING — Paulding County Dog Warden Mandy Lichty received some good news last week when she was informed she had received a grant for the dog shelter.
The grant is to be used for a spay and neuter program in Paulding County that will involve three populations of dogs.
The dog shelter, with the help of local veterinarian Missie Bowman, will spay and neuter all dogs adopted through the Paulding County Dog Shelter. There will be a fee for the services, but there will also be a voucher program enacted which will help pay the costs.
Another group of dogs will be those from low-income families. They will be able to apply for a voucher for the spay or neutering through the WIC program or a county agency.
Lichty said, “We are also going to start a program called ‘Spay the Mamas.’ We get litters of puppies brought in the the dog shelter and a lot of times you can tell they are from the same mama.
“In the Spay the Mama program, if the dog owner will make an appointment to bring all the puppies to the shelter when they are between 8 and 10 weeks of age, they will receive a voucher to have the mother dog spayed at no charge.
“This will help cut back on over population of dogs in the county.
“Last year, we picked up as many stray dogs as Defiance and we are a smaller county.”
Lichty began writing the grant in September 2009. She completed and mailed it in October. The amount of the grant was $3,000. Lichty noted, “I was just so happy to receive it. It’s a start to get this program up and running.”
The grant was made available through the Ohio Pet Plate. Certain license plates can be bought which supports the grant. The amount of $3,000 was the highest amount you could receive.
Lichty commented, “This is the first grant I have ever written, but now I plan on applying for more. We are also planning some fundraisers to support the spay and neuter program and I can use volunteers to help with those. We hope to have everything in place to begin in May.”
“Also,” she continued, “with Missie Bowman’s help, I am planning on teaching a dog first aid class. A lot of dog owners don’t know what to do in certain cases if their dog is ill. This class will help equip them in simple rules of first aid for their dogs.”
To volunteer to help with fund-raising for the Paulding County Dog Shelter’s Spay and Neuter Program, call Lichty at 419-399-9728.