Traveling vet van facing cutbacks

A budget squeeze could ground the Animobile, which sterilizes pets and offers other services free or at reduced cost. Special events could continue.

By LISA GREENE, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 24, 2003

The Animobile just began making twice-weekly rounds to Pinellas County neighborhoods, armed with vets ready to spay and neuter pets and save the county from pet overpopulation.

But the Animobile is likely to be parked just as it gets off the ground.

The county's Animal Services department delivered the message to county commissioners this week. To bring in a budget with no increases, it will have to stop sending the Animobile out to do surgeries.

"It's disappointing, of course," said veterinarian Welch Agnew, the department's assistant director. "The purpose of this program was to reach out and hit the underserved parts of the county."

The Animobile is a traveling medical office for animals. A vet and assistants visit different low-income areas of the county twice a week, performing spay and neuter surgeries, pet licenses and rabies and other shots free or at reduced cost.

The county spent about $40,000 to convert an old van the county had used as a mobile medical unit for people. Since March 20, when the Animobile began twice-weekly trips, Agnew said, unit staffers sterilized 80 animals, vaccinated 189 and issued 191 pet licenses.

But the work comes at a cost: somewhere between $170,000 to $220,000 per year, said Greg Andrews, operations manager.

Because salaries and the cost of employee insurance increased, other cuts had to be made to keep the budget flat, Andrews said.

The department's recommendation isn't final. Commissioners could still decide to spend more money on the program. But the county is expecting a tight budget year, and they face other increased costs. County officials fear that state lawmakers will pass along new costs to them. They also want to increase spending on health care for the uninsured and on more code enforcement officers.

Gay Lancaster, the first assistant county administrator, said the Animobile is an extra, a "service enhancement," not a vital service.

"We can't look at enhancements. We have to look at the core mission," she said.

"We can't afford to do that and meet our target."

The county doesn't plan to give up on the Animobile entirely. It would still take it to special events, where it could be used for animal adoptions, pet shots and licenses, Agnew said. But the surgeries and regular neighborhood visits would end in October, when the county's new fiscal year begins.

Rick Chaboudy, director of the Humane Society of North Pinellas, said he would be sorry to see the Animobile trips end.

"We were all kind of excited that it was something new to help us with pet overpopulation," he said. "It would be sad to see it go even though it hasn't been around a very long time."

The Animobile is part of a county trend to bring more services into neighborhoods. Other animal service departments around the state also have mobile spay and neuter units.

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