Oversight of the Ohio Pet Fund:
- The Ohio Pet Fund provides a yearly report of income and expenditures to the Ohio Attorney General, as it has for twenty years.
- The Ohio Pet Fund files a 990 tax report with the IRS each year, available on five online sites, including candid.org and causeiq.com (link below)
- The first page of the Ohio Pet Fund website continues to include a list of grantees over the last 20 years! See our 2025 Grants page for more detail.
- The Ohio Pet Fund has a six-member board, containing a physician and a veterinarian, and an advisory board containing an additional veterinarian.
- With passage of House Bill 148, the Ohio Pet Fund shall report to the Ohio General Assembly as to the effectiveness of the tax refund contribution fund, and include the amount of money contributed and purposes for which money was expended.
For the ten year period 2016-2025, the Ohio Pet Fund's total spay-neuter grants to shelters and 501c3 organizations have exceeded the license plate income. Our goal was to empty the shelters by 2025. Sadly, that did not happen, but it was not for lack of effort! We take in about $275,000 per year with the pet license plate, but with over 200 grant applications, it just doesn't go far enough!
We need to be able to support the small county dog wardens who don't have the funds to spay/neuter pets before adoption. If those pets aren't neutered, the revolving door cycle will just continue, and wardens will be forced to euthanize tail-wagging puppies due to lack of space. We can't let that continue. Let's support the shelters directly and indirectly by supporting the 501c3 non-profits around them to reduce shelter intakes, facilitate adoptions and to save money for our counties, so that counties are better able to support their shelters.
Note that our bank balance has generally been highest in December/January, and our 990 tax form (available online at candid.org and the site at the bottom of this page) will show a snapshot of accrued end-of-the-year amounts, before over $800,000 in grant disbursements began in February 2025.
At 200 applications a year, we will need much more to be able to fund your 2026 grants! Please keep spreading the news about pet license plates while we work on legislative opportunities to garner more support for your efforts. We are still planning for the future of cats, dogs, and people in Ohio.
Thank you for all you do to help find a home for every dog and cat!
Link to the latest published Ohio Pet Fund 990:
Please note that the December/January figures will be the highest figures of the year, as grant disbursements for 2024 and 2025 began in February of those years. Over $800,000 of grant funds have been disbursed in 2025.
https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/ohio-pet-fund,202289216/
