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Shelter pets official state pet of Ohio after new law passes

ByWesley Coburn|
LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 13: Rosie, a one year-old mongrel, is pictured in a kennel at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, where it has lived for 20 days on December 13, 2018 in London, England. The animal shelter, which was founded in London in 1860, is currently seeking homes for some of its longest standing residents. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 13: Rosie, a one year-old mongrel, is pictured in a kennel at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, where it has lived for 20 days on December 13, 2018 in London, England. The animal shelter, which was founded in London in 1860, is currently seeking homes for some of its longest standing residents. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

Shelter pets are the new state animal of Ohio.

The State of Ohio officially made shelter pets the official state pet last Wednesday.

Dog O’Day learned of this news through Cleveland’s ABC affiliate News 5.

According to the Humane Society, this makes the Buckeye State at least the sixth state to make shelter pets their official state pets after California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois and Tennessee. Texas and Oregon are also considering something similar.

The Dayton Daily News reports that the shelter pets part of the law is part of the wide-sweeping Senate Bill 86, which dealt with state-recognized holidays, special designations and specialty license plates.

Bill 86 passed the Ohio House of Representatives unopposed. It also designated September 12 at Jesse Owens Day and June 12 as Superman Day.

Though born in Alabama, Owens grew up in Cleveland and attended Ohio State University, and Superman co-creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster also grew up in Cleveland.

The Cleveland Browns, whose fans are known as the Dawg Pound, topped the FanSided Fandom 250 rankings for 2018, by the way.

For more superhero news, visit our sister site Bam Smack Pow., which Wesley also writes for.

The first episode of the Netflix documentary series Dogs spotlighted an Ohio girl named Corrine and her family living near Cincinnati as they wait for, and then adjust to, life with her new service dog.

The official state animal of Ohio is the whitetail deer.

An Ohio House member, Representative Jeff Rezabek, is also trying to get the Labrador recognized as the official Ohio State Dog, but is running into pushback from PETA, who fear that such a title could result in more puppy mill activity. That would be awful, but it’s just a silly honorary designation, and the breed has been the most popular for nearly thirty years.

13 other states have official state dogs, with five (including Ohio) considering on appointing one. These are for the most part local breeds, which include Delaware’s Golden Retriever, Pennsylvania’s Great Dane, and Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay Retriever.

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