Animal Welfare

Auditor Karl Keith is an advocate for the humane treatment of animals and actively serves as a member of the Animal Resource Center Advisory Board. For the past three years he has donated the #1 Dog License Tag to SICSA and the Humane Society to be used as a fund-raising tool. Thousands of dollars have been raised through the use of the #1 Tag to support the work of these organizations.

Presentation of the #1 Tag is also used to promote the purchase of dog licenses during the county’s annual renewal drive. The Auditor’s Office processes and issues over 70,000 dog licenses a year, and the proceeds from the sale of these licenses provide funding for the county’s Animal Resource Center, the largest companion animal shelter in the Greater Dayton area. It is a state-of-the-art facility that receives over 10,000 dogs and cats each year.

In 2007, the Auditor’s Office introduced an online application that allows licenses to be conveniently purchased and renewed over the internet. Over 15% of licenses issued in 2010 were purchased using the Auditor’s website.

Auditor Keith supports offering a discount in the license fee for those dog owners whose pets are spayed or neutered to encourage this practice. An internet survey conducted by the Auditor’s Office indicated that over 91% of the respondents support offering such a discount. Keith will continue to advocate offering this reduction in the annual license fee with the county commission.