Humane Society of the Ohio Valley

The Humane Society of the Ohio Valley was originally Chartered in 1888 as the Washington County Humane Society ⁃ the oldest organization of its kind in the state of Ohio and one of the oldest animal-serving organizations in the United States.  Our current building at 90 Mount Tom Road, Marietta, OH 45750, was constructed in 1980.  In 1987, we were renamed the Humane Society of the Ohio Valley.  

It costs about $ 40,000 a month to operate our shelter.  We care for and return to owners or find homes for about 2,000 animals each year.  HSOV has contracts with the Washington County Commission and the City of  Marietta to support governmental functions of those entities. These contracts  support about 18% of our annual operating expenses.  The remaining 82% of our income comes from fundraisers, public donations, bequests, trusts, adoptions, grants and reimbursements of veterinary care for animals that go to rescues.

Until 2011, we were taking in almost 4,000 animals each year, and euthanizing many healthy cats and kittens, and a few dogs.  Regretfully, almost half of the cats and kittens that came into our shelter before 2012, never made it out alive. Changes were made in our intake protocols, and less cats were taken in when we became full.  We stopped euthanizing healthy, adoptable animals.  Our save rate climbed to over 90% in 2013 and has stayed there every year, except 2019 when we took in a large hoarding case with many sick, not socialized cats.  

Each year, we became more determined to save lives, not end them.  We worked to increase adoptions and rescues, decrease and manage intake, and address medical and behavior issues as often as possible.  In 2015, we surrendered our euthanasia equipment and license.  Our crematory was dismantled and turned into a food locker.  Also in 2015, We started regular dog walks and cat cuddling by volunteers for socialization.  We reached out to local businesses and partnered with Applebees, Workingman’s Store, American Flags and Poles, Baker and Baker, Green Acres, Putnam Chocolates, We Luv Pets, Merle Norman, Whit & Whimsey, Mahone Tire, Kroger, Walmart, Sams Club and many more to collect supplies and increase visibility of our animals.   We have experimented with programs like local senior centers fostering kittens needing bottle fed and loving care, camps for kids, shelter tours for scout troops-which led to a few eagle scout projects, including a walking path at the shelter and cat boxes for our outside shelter residence cats.  Volunteers and staff took dogs to nursing homes and schools to visit and educate people on what we do.  
We have added an animal food bank to help people from the community in need of pet food  keep their pets, instead of surrendering them.  We partnered with local food banks to help reach more folks in need.  We utilize national programs, Greater Good & Cuddly, to collect enough food to help many people’s pets.   We began making follow up calls to adopters to help with adjustment and keep pets in adoptive homes.  We reached out to the community for volunteer and foster help, as well as monetary and supply donations.  Our board, director and managers began attending monthly commissioners meetings.  We reached out to Marietta College and Marietta Community Foundation to utilize volunteers and see how we can work together in our community.  We began to have a regular presence at Marietta First Friday’s with animals and shelter information.   We met with Marietta Community Foundation about funds and added a link to donate to the shelter through the foundation.   In 2018, we updated to a more modern website.  We maintain it with current info, as well as our Facebook Pages and other social media. 
Sharon Paul, a dedicated volunteer, continues to take photos daily and do write ups for every animal that comes into our shelter, keeping Facebook, Petfinder and social media updated with our found and adoptable animals.  She is also instrumental in cat rescue, foster and spay/neuter.  Her foundation, Friends of Felines has funded spay and neuter surgery for 1000’s of cats through the years.

Looking forward, we also are focusing on animal enrichment and behavior while the animals are in our care.  We want to decrease our length of stay for dogs and cats.  Not euthanizing is wonderful.  But that means some dogs and cats wait a year or more for the perfect home.  Enrichment helps, but doesn’t take the place of a loving home.  

We appreciate the support of our community-the citizen’s of Washington County.  It is this support, adoptions and donations that allow us to operate our shelter, save and enrich the lives of the homeless animals in our county.  Our goal is to make every dog and cat in the county a treasured pet.