About Us

Since 1974, SICSA has been dedicated to helping the homeless, stray and unwanted animals in Kettering, Ohio, Dayton and the Miami Valley. 

Your support enables us to:

• Reunite lost animals with their families
• Rescue abandoned animals and find them loving homes
• Give sick and injured animals a second chance at life
• Bring the healing presence of companion animals to the sick and elderly 
• Perform low cost spay/neuter surgeries to reduce the number dogs and cats euthanized in Montgomery County

History

In 1974, a group of dedicated individuals committed to offering Kettering Ohio, Dayton and the Miami Valley an alternative to the traditional animal welfare system, came together and created the Society for the Improvement of Conditions for Stray Animals (SICSA).

For 32 years, people in the Miami Valley have supported SICSA in a partnership of caring to build a strong humane animal community. 

Mission

• To promote the welfare of dogs and cats and to nurture the human/animal bond

To support our mission, SICSA offers numerous animal-centered programs and services.

Pet Adoptions

SICSA is committed to making quality adoptions.  We take great care in matching people with appropriate companions.

If you are interested in adopting an animal, please complete our pre-adoption survey:

• View list of available pets at our Kettering SICSA facility
• Dog Pre-Adoption Survey (.pdf)
• Cat Pre-Adoption Survey (.pdf)

Foster Care

Foster care providers keep the animals in their homes during the week and return them to SICSA on weekends for adoption display.

SICSA’s foster care program is dedicated to rehabilitating "at risk" animals with adoption potential. 

Our foster care program increases our capacity for helping animals while improving the quality of care.

Pet Facilitated Therapy

"...When people face real adversity... disease, unemployment, or the disabilities of age..... affection from a pet takes on a new meaning. Then the pet's continuing affection is a sign that the essence of the person has not been damaged..."

SICSA -- Bringing Pets and People Together

SICSA is a non-profit animal welfare organization that helps over 2,000 homeless dogs and cats each year.

SICSA volunteers and staff have always known about the special bond we have with animals. Our involvement as a pet facilitated therapy (PFT) resource in our community was a natural progression of events.

After reading reports about animals in therapeutic settings, SICSA volunteers made their first pet facilitated therapy visit in 1979.

To spread good cheer and fond memories, today's SICSA volunteers, accompanied by “working” four-legged companions, visit :

• nursing homes
• senior day care centers
• hospices
• children’s homes
• and other organizations throughout the Miami Valley

Specialized PFT sessions are also held at SICSA. These sessions allow groups or individuals with varying needs, to physically care for the animals, such as walking or grooming.  Improved motor skills, social skills and self esteem are just a few of the objectives.

Animals participating in the program are selected for temperament based on SICSA's extensive knowledge about pet behavior.

Each pet facilitated therapy session or visitation is a celebration of the human spirit and the human pet bond guaranteeing SICSA's commitment to this heart warming program.

What is Pet Facilitated Therapy?

Companion animals, commonly called pets, have been seen as pleasant trivia of our human existence. Little was reported about their effects on our health until a study by the University of Maryland, from 1977 to 1979, showed some dramatic statistics linking pet ownership to a reduced risk of heart disease and an increased survival rate for heart patients. The University of Maryland study opened the doors for the scientific community and health care providers to explore the benefits we receive from animals.

Today, the use of animals in therapeutic settings is called pet facilitated therapy or animal assisted activities. Research shows its applications to be vast, limited only by imagination and resources.

Pet facilitated therapy can be used alone or as a catalyst enabling other traditional therapies to work more effectively.  PFT programs can be found in diverse settings including prisons, mental health units, nursing homes, residential treatment centers, hospitals, and schools.

Although a wide variety of animals are useful for PFT, dogs and cats are most commonly used due to our symbiotic relationship that has evolved through centuries of domestication. They have become companions in our daily lives, often enhancing our psychological and physical well being. This relationship is known as the human-pet bond and is the basis for the success of pet facilitated therapy and animal assisted activities.

Pet therapy is not new...

Pet facilitated therapy is not new, despite current and intense interest. One of the earliest uses of animals for therapy was recorded in 1792. The York Retreat in England, founded by the Society of Friends, used animals to enhance the humanity of the emotionally ill. It was believed patients could learn self control by having creatures dependent on them. The revolutionary program brought vast improvements to the institutional settings that today are still beneficial.

Why does Pet Facilitated Therapy work?

Numerous theories exist about why pet facilitated therapy works and confirming studies are underway. Animals can open doors and touch people's lives in ways humans can't. They are not substitutes for human relationships, but can serve to benefit the emotional and physical health of a wide range of people.

Studies show pets can:

• reduce stress
• lower blood pressure
• decrease the risk of heart disease

Focusing on a pet can:

• relieve pain
• relieve feelings of isolation or depression
• alleviate the doldrums of institutional living

Pets give us a sense of purpose, providing us the ability to nurture. To love and be loved is the most basic of human needs.

Animals make us smile and laugh. They also encourage us to move, whether it is reaching out to touch and snuggle or run and play.

Companion animals are unconditional and non-judgmental. Regardless of our physical condition, they offer uncomplicated affection in the form of a lick, nudge, purr or tail wag to help improve our self esteem. Animals provide the much needed touching so often missing in institutional settings.

Animals modify the environment. A health care provider with an animal is perceived to be safe and less forbidding thus breaking down barriers of communication.

These are just a few of the less complicated theories supporting pet facilitated therapy. Research into the emotional, physical and social benefits of animals has just scratched the surface.

In the words of Dr. Jan Loney, American Academy of Child Psychiatry --

"The staff that includes an animal therapist has at least one colleague who is without vanity and ambition, who has no "pet" theories, who is utterly unconcerned with role or status, who does not fear emotion, and who does not feel that he is being underpaid. In truth, an inspiration and model for us all."

Humane Education

Education is at the heart of the long-term solution to the overwhelming plight of strays. 

SICSA provides educational programs to school children and adult/community groups of all ages in the Miami Valley and handles countless phone calls each year, providing information on a variety of animal-related issues.

Spay/Neuter Assistance

We understand that the only way to stop the endless flow of unwanted animals is to attack the problem at its source.  That’s why all animals are spayed/neutered while in our adoption program. Learn more about SICSA's spay / neuter service.

SICSA also offers a limited-income "pay-what-you-can" program for those who qualify. 

Dog Obedience Training Classes

Our puppy/adult dog training classes help establish the foundation for a lasting and rewarding relationship between dog and owner.  Check out and sign-up online for our current dog obedience training classes (link).

A Lost & Found Registry

This is an area-wide registry of lost and found animals, to help reunite pets with their owners.

Lost a Pet?

Soon, we will have a free online service where you can post photos and "if-found" information for your lost pet. 

Found a Pet?

Soon, we will have a free online service where you can post photos and "found" information for a lost pet that you have found. 

Lost Pet Behavior

If you have a lost cat, information on some typical behaviors of lost cats may be helpful in finding your cat.