The WCHS Team

As a nonprofit shelter, Wayne County Humane Society is operated by a small and dedicated staff, a very active volunteer board of directors, and our amazing shelter volunteers.

Meet The Staff

Animal Shelter Director

John Carhart, Animal Shelter Director of the Wayne County Humane Society, brings a wealth of experience and dedication to his role. As a former business owner with a degree in Business Administration, he offers a unique combination of entrepreneurial acumen and HR expertise.

With over a decade of service in the animal welfare field, John has consistently demonstrated a deep commitment to the well-being of animals. His previous role as Dog Warden and Shelter Director in Knox County showcased his leadership skills, innovative approach, and effective management of shelter operations.

John's expertise will contribute to the continued success of the organization. His passion for animal welfare aligns seamlessly with the society's mission to find committed, permanent homes for companion animals, reduce overpopulation, and promote humane values in the community.

Animal Care Specialist

Say hello to Stephanie Long! Stephanie's Associate of Science degrees from Ohio State University in Animal Science and Agricultural Education have made her a great fit for the many animal care roles that she has held at the shelter since joining the team in 2014. Her current role is Animal Care Specialist, which puts her in charge of overseeing and managing the health and welfare of animals while they are at WCHS. Additionally, Stephanie coordinates rescues, arranges foster care for animals in need, plans and assists vets with trap-neuter release services, evaluates animal temperaments, writes bios for adoptable animals, and comes up with many of the clever names for our adoptable animals! The best parts of Stephanie’s job are that she is able to use her skills and knowledge to help make animals happy and healthy, and that she gets the opportunity to introduce people to their new best friends.

Animal Care Technician

Debbie has worked at WCHS for 13 years and is a familiar face around the shelter. She is a big animal lover and her favorite part about working at WCHS is that she has the opportunity to take care of and interact with animals every day. Some of Debbie's main duties involve the rescue and transport of WCHS animals, cleaning kennels, and lending a hand around the shelter wherever it is needed.
When she is not hard at work, Debbie enjoys spending time with her grandchildren, going out to eat, and visiting with friends. At home, Debbie has eleven cats, three dogs, an iguana, and a bearded dragon to keep her company.

Adoption Coordinator

Veterinary Assistant/Animal Care Technician

Volunteer Coordinator

Animal Care Technician

Mandy is our Animal Care Technician at WCHS. She makes sure all of the animals are well cared-for and healthy during their time at WCHS. Mandy loves working with animals, and her favorite part of her job is getting to be a part of each animal’s journey to find their forever home.

At home, Mandy enjoys spending her time in the garden with her four kids. She also spends her time playing with and caring for all her pets. She has three mini dachshunds, five cats, a bearded dragon, several geese, and a few peacocks. When she finally has a moment to relax, Mandy enjoys writing poetry.

Animal Care Technician

Meet The Board

Dee Black

President

Dee joined the board after learning about the opportunity at Leadership Wooster nonprofit day. She loves volunteering and giving back to the organization from which she adopted her dog-child, Scampers. Dee is a former special education teacher turned yoga studio manager and yoga teacher. Dee is employed at Flex Yoga Wooster. She is married to Zach, who works at the College of Wooster; they have two cats: Daisy and Sketch, and Scampers. Dee's goals for WCHS are to increase our visibility in the community and continue to streamline processes for efficient shelter operations.

Alyssa Gilbert

Vice President

Alyssa became a part of Wayne County Humane Society as a volunteer in 2016, where she enjoyed socializing dogs and cats during her lunch breaks. She joined the board in 2020 and has loved getting involved with marketing, fundraising events, and running the Annual Paws in the Park Dog Swim every August (save the date for August 11th this year! 🐶). Her favorite way to stay involved at WCHS is fostering. She has fostered several adorable litters of kittens over the last few years and has two cats of her own, Rourke and Pooka, that she and her husband foster failed in 2021. Outside of WCHS, Alyssa works as a Technical Market Analyst at Seaman Corporation and spends her evenings gardening or enjoying life with family and friends

Clay Matthews

Treasurer

Clay Matthews is an Associate Accountant at Rea & Associates based out of the Wooster Office. He has been working with Rea since graduating from Ashland University in the Spring of 2022. Clay joined the board in 2023 and hopes to continue the legacy of the Humane Society.

Clay has lived in Central Ohio his whole life, growing up on a farm outside and raising livestock. His favorite pets are the family dogs, Ruby and Bandit, both of which were adopted from previous owners.

Laurie Harvey

Secretary

Although Laurie has been a supporter of the Wayne County Humane Society for over 3 decades, it wasn’t until recently that she joined the board (2022). She has always had a passion for animals and wanted a way to become a voice for them. She lives in Wooster along with her husband and 4 spoiled cats (Nora, Jagger, Henley, and Dylan), all of whom are Wayne County Humane Society alumni. She is currently a Technical Solutions Developer for Paychex and loves to travel, swim, walk, hike, and take care of animals.

Mike Bomboris

Past President

Mike came to the Humane Society volunteering to do videos with pets to make a difference in their lives and help get them adopted. He was approached to join the board and it was a no-brainer with his previous knowledge and work in animal welfare.

Mike, and his spouse, Charles, have 3 dogs (Ellie, Oliver, Motley), 4 cats (Rupert, Rowan, Charlie, and GiGi), and a horse (Sassy). He loves to spend time with his family, spouse, fur babies, and in the spring and summer, he loves to be in his flower bed.

Mike’s goal for WCHS is to see our volunteer program increase and to be able to help change the lives of more animals.

Jim Hand

Board Member

Jim Hand is the Broke Owner of ReMax in Wooster, Ohio. He has been President for the Wayne Holmes association of Realtors, on the Board of Directors for the Wayne Holmes Board of Realtors since 2007, and OAR director since 2010.

Laurel Harrison, DVM

Board Member

Dr. Laurel Harrison is an associate veterinarian at Cleveland Road Animal Hospital in Wooster. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and their 5 shelter rescues: Barley, Kylo, Paski, Ollie and Nacho.

Matt Kopina

Board Member

Alexis LeJeune

Board Member

Alexis LeJeune is Corporate Counsel for Regis Corporation. Alexis joined the board in 2022 while working at Critchfield, Critchfield, & Johnston as part of a legacy of Critchfield attorneys that have served WCHS. Alexis moved to the Wayne County community in 2019 from her hometown in Louisiana with her husband and their rescue pup, Felix. Alexis is an advocate of rescue animals and enjoys supporting the animals at WCHS.

Greg Long

Board Member

Greg Long has over forty years of public accounting experience in the areas of General Accounting, Auditing, Taxation, and Management Advisory Services. He worked 5 years for Premier Industrial Corporation, a New York Stock

Exchange company, as a Staff Accountant, Internal Auditor, and Director of Operations and Finance. He is the Co-Founder, Former President, and Managing Partner of Long, Cook & Samsa, Inc., CPA's, a local accounting firm in Wooster, Ohio. He is the Originator, former member of the Board of Directors, and Audit Committee Chairman of Ohio Legacy Bank (now Premier Bank & Trust). Greg in September 2021 when the firm merged with Meaden & Moore. Greg is a former Treasurer of the Wayne County Humane Society.

Anna Masters

Board Member

Anna is an animal lover who got involved with Wayne County Humane Society as a student attending The College of Wooster. She began as a volunteer in 2012, and when she moved back to Wooster in 2017, she got involved with WCHS again. Anna has been on the Board since 2020 and has served as the Vice President and President of the Board of Directors. Anna works at The College of Wooster as the Director of Annual Giving. Anna is a proud cat mom and has two cats, Calvin and Van Gogh, who were adopted from WCHS in 2020 and 2023. She and her family love coming to the shelter to volunteer.

Ron Messner

Board Member

I live in Wooster with my wife and our combined five children ranging in age from 20 to 8. I have worked at Bogner construction for almost 25 years. I spent almost 20 years working as a project superintendent
before moving into the office as a project manager. Shortly after making that move, Bogners started encouraging me to give back to our community by volunteering. This led me to my involvement with the Wane County Humane Society. I am delighted to serve on this board and to help provide these
important services to our community!

Jody McElroy

Board Member

Chuck Neyhart

Board Member

Duper Pallotta

Board Member

I was THE cheerleading coach at Wooster High School for a combined 22 years.

I feel it's important to be a proud member of your community so therefore I have served on numerous non-profit boards over the years. I have been a long time supporter of and now serve on the Wayne County Humane Society Board because I believe in the mission.

I am the proud owner of 2 (black) Golden doodles, a horse and 4 mini donkeys.

Logan Stutzman

Board Member

Andrea Uhler

Board Member