Friends of the Shelter Dogs does not have a shelter. We help the dogs at the Athens County Dog Shelter (Ohio) which is located at 13333 OH-13, Chauncey, OH 45719.

Friends of the Shelter Dogs is an all-volunteer, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. The Athens County Sheriff’s Department is under contract with the county to operate the Athens County Dog Shelter (ACDS). Although we assist the dogs at the Athens County Dog Shelter, we are separate entities.

We are a group of volunteers who are dedicated to helping the dogs at the Athens County Dog Shelter. We formed in 2007 to help reduce the euthanasia rate. In 2007, 86% of the dogs at our county shelter were euthanized. Over the years we have worked closely with The Athens County Dog Shelter (ACDS) to implement various programs so ACDS does not have to euthanize for space. We have developed partnerships with rescues in larger, metropolitan areas to help transfer dogs out of the shelter. We have also implemented a foster program to help reduce crowding.  We also buy the vaccines, dewormer, flea/tick preventions, disinfectants and other items for the shelter dogs and pay for almost all of their sick and injured vetting. We also have a volunteer program to walk dogs at the shelter and hold adoption events to help market dogs for adoption.

Each week, we share information about the dogs at the Athens County Dog Shelter with our network of partner rescues in Ohio, the Northeast, and sometimes even into Canada. They let us know which dogs they are willing and able to take. Sometimes it takes longer to find a rescue to take a particular dog. We are always in need of more foster homes. If you would like to help by fostering please fill out an application at: https://fs30.formsite.com/fosdathens/form2/index.html

Typically on Thursday mornings, volunteer drivers will take dogs/puppies in their cars to a meeting point. From there, other volunteer drivers meet them and take them on the next leg of the trip.

We do not have the legal ability to take in stray dogs. If you find a dog, you should report it to the county shelter in the county in which you found it. They must hold the dog for three days to allow an owner time to claim it. If you do not want the dog to go to the shelter, you can discuss fostering that dog for the shelter until it is adopted.

If you intend to keep a found dog, you still must alert the county shelter. You cannot legally own it (no matter how long you have had it) until it has been reported to the shelter and has undergone the requisite stray hold.

It takes very little time for a dog on the run to become skinny and tatty. Don’t assume the dog you found has been neglected or abused. It may be a beloved companion animal that has been lost for quite some time. If someone loves it, they will be checking in frequently at the shelter. If not, they will not bother. If you have reason to believe a dog has been mistreated or neglected. Please report this to the Athens County Humane Society at https://www.athenshumane.org/report.

We believe that adoption is forever. If you must re-home your dog, please try to re-home them yourself. Our shelter dogs have nobody but us to help them. Your dog has you as their advocate. And don’t you want to know who will be taking care of them?   The rescues we partner with often take dogs from high-kill, high-intake shelters. If we send your dog to a partner rescue, that may mean another dog could be euthanized that could have been chosen instead.   Please check out our guidelines for re-homing dogs HERE before you put your dog on Facebook, Craigslist or any other widely-viewed platform! Terrible things can happen to the “free-to-a-good-home dog” that you are trying to give away.   If you have exhausted all the above possibilities, there is a chance we might be able to help. We do not work on an emergency basis. We do not have a facility, are a small group of volunteers doing this in our space time, and we rarely have available fosters. Even IF we are able to help, it may take several weeks, or more depending on the dog.

We cannot seize dogs that are being neglected/abused. The Humane Officer is in charge of handling animal abuse cases. You can report the concern HERE Please take pictures/video, if possible.

Because most of the dogs we take from the shelter have already been requested by our partner rescues, FOSD does not typically have dogs to adopt to the public. However, we may opt to adopt dogs locally that we have taken into our custody for medical reasons (e.g., received treatment for heartworm). If we have available dogs, they will be posted on our PetFinder page HERE. The first step in adopting an FOSD dog is to complete the adoption application found HERE. All FOSD dogs are $165 which includes license, spay/neuter, heartworm test, vaccines, and parasite treatment. Because they are also in foster homes, they usually have also received some basic training (e.g., housetraining, crate training, basic obedience).   And don’t forget the Athens County Dog Shelter! Check out their PetFinder page HERE to view their adoptable dogs.

You can donate by mailing a check to P.O. Box 576, Athens, OH 45701 or by making a donation through Paypal on our Donate page!

There are a couple of different options for getting your dog spayed or neutered at a low cost. Click the button below for Spay & Neuter resources:

We are happy that you are looking to adopt a shelter dog and we will help you if we can, but we don’t keep a list of people to contact when certain dog breeds come into the shelter. We do often have pure bred dogs that come in and the best way to stay up to date is to check our Facebook page for updates about new dogs in the shelter or to look for the breed you are searching for on www.petfinder.com. You may find the breed you are looking for at a neighboring shelter or with a rescue that specializes in that breed.