Summit County, Ohio – Summit County, Ohio, and its county-operated animal shelter are being sued for the “needless, cruel, and illegal killing of cats.” The lawsuit comes from Alley Cat Allies, the leader of the global movement to protect cats and kittens.

The agency is asking the “Court to order Summit County to immediately cease its inhumane killing of cats and dogs in contravention of the law, among other relief.”

In a release, DanaMarie Pannella, attorney, Alley Cat Allies, said:

The Summit County Animal Control Department is a law enforcement entity meant to uphold the laws. Instead, it is improperly and inhumanely ‘euthanizing’ animals and killing cats for simply being deemed ‘feral’. Stopping the senseless and inhumane killing of cats is our top priority. The next step for Summit County is to create a humane animal control agency that adheres to laws and best practices, including Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), and guarantees real protection for animals.”

The agency opted to sue the animal shelter after accessing public records that revealed “disturbing evidence of cats and dogs at the Summit County shelter being killed inhumanely by underdosing or otherwise improperly administering euthanasia drugs. In some instances, these killings violated even the shelter’s own outdated euthanasia policy.”

The agency is also encouraging the county to implement TNR (trap, neuter, return) to keep feral cat populations humanely under control.

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