Franklin County Dog Statistics

A gold standard of any publicly funded shelter is to openly share shelter statistics. In fact, Best Friends Animal Society aggregates national shelter statistics. https://bestfriends.org/no-kill-2025/animal-shelter-statistics for many shelters across the nation, including Ohio.

Unfortunately, the last time Franklin County decided to share these public records was 2023-2024. At that time, the save rate was an abysmal 75%. This means that more the 1,000 dogs could have been saved with better shelter management and programs.

Our community has been concerned. Efforts from citizens requesting these public records have been met with obstruction – refusals without legal cause, untimely request responses, or notes of “lost records.” In fact, actions to collect these records have often come only after legal representation was sought.

Unfortunately, this seems to be an ongoing trend for the shelter. As of 2025, the shelter released a new website that has no link or any mention of shelter statistics.

Our question is simple: What does Franklin County Dog Shelter have to hide? Your community is asking for the statistics so they may support you in developing a plan to improve our save rate. But we also ask that the leadership be held responsible for the continued decline in shelter management.

What we ask from the County:

1. The shelter immediately updates the website and gives the public access to timely shelter data.
2. The county responds to all public records requests promptly. It’s the law.
3. Hold your FCSD leadership accountable. If the director cannot develop a plan and demonstrate improved shelter save rates, it’s time to look to experts and other leaders who can. There are communities all around us that have proven this can be done.

Help us continue to support this chance. Sign our petition and donate to help us support this cause.