DAYTON — The Humane Society of Greater Dayton is temporarily pausing accepting new dog cruelty and neglect investigations referred by the Montgomery County Dog Warden.
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The Humane Society gave the update on dog cruelty and neglect investigations in a social media post on Friday, while also explaining the way Avery’s Law has changed how the cases are handled.
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Previously, the cases were investigated by dog wardens. Under the new law, the dog wardens don’t have the authority to investigate most cruelty and neglect cases and must refer them to humane societies and local law enforcement agencies.
“While the goal of Avery’s Law was to strengthen protections for people & animals, the transition has created real challenges. Responsibility has shifted quickly, but the funding, staffing, and infrastructure needed to support that shift have not,” the Humane Society wrote.
Leaders added that they don’t receive funding to conduct cruelty investigations, employ humane society agents, or house animals seized from the cases.
Currently, the Humane Society of Greater Dayton only has two part-time humane society agents covering the entire county. Since January, they’ve removed more than 300 animals from harmful situations.
“It is also important to understand that we are a limited-intake organization. Animals rescued from cruelty situations often require medical isolation, behavioral rehabilitation, and must be held during legal proceedings. This means they cannot be placed into standard adoption spaces, and our capacity fills quickly,” the Humane Society wrote.
Due to that, they’ve decided to temporarily pause accepting new cases from the county’s dog warden. Instead, they will be directed to local law enforcement.
They’ll still actively investigate cruelty and neglect cases involving all other species, and review every report submitted to them.
“This is not a decision made lightly—and it is not due to a lack of compassion. It is a decision based on capacity. Taking on more cases than we can responsibly manage would put animals at greater risk, not less," they wrote.
Humane Society leadership called for a coordinated, sustainable system to protect animals.
“Long-term solutions will require collaboration between municipalities, law enforcement, humane societies, prosecutors, and government-operated animal facilities,” they wrote. “Our leadership team is actively working with local partners to help develop those solutions as quickly as possible.”
Reports of cruelty or neglect can continue to be submitted here.
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