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Letter to the editor

Easing pain of cutbacks

At Animal Services, compassionate donors step up to fill the gaps left by budget cuts.

By THERESA BLACKWELL, Times Staff Writer
Published November 25, 2007

Dr. Welch Agnew, assistant director of veterinary services, spays a cat Tuesday at the Pinellas County Animal Services facility in Largo.
	[Douglas R. Clifford | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT [Douglas R. Clifford | Times] Spayed cats recover after surgery. [Douglas R. Clifford | Times] Kristin Chirikos, a veterinary technician, inspects a cat for fleas. [Douglas R. Clifford | Times] Tracy Moss, another veterinary technician, visits with a dog after it had been evaluated for surgery.

Most weekday mornings start the same way in the operating room at Pinellas County Animal Services: with lots of cats and dogs to spay and neuter.

Animals are given painkillers before and after the procedures.

"It tends to help with the long-term recovery, because there's a little less inflammation in the wound site from the surgery," said county veterinarian Dewayne Taylor.

But if it weren't for the generosity of donors, those animals would get pain medication only when in obvious distress. At Animal Services, which has lost three technicians to budget cuts and will see its director leave next year, that' sone cutback veterinarians don't want to make.

That's where the county's Animal Welfare Trust Fund comes in, providing a higher level of care than operating funds allow.

Donations, sometimes given in memory of a pet or included in a donor's will, replenish the fund. Last year, the county had $91,730 gifts for animal welfare, according to the county's budget. This year, officials aim to push the total donated to $199,150. Overall, Animal Services has an operating budget of $5.4-million for fiscal year 2007-08, down from $5.85-million in '06-07.

To help boost the fund, officials will hold a holiday event at the shelter from 10 a.m. to noon Dec. 8. Wayne Cathel of Belleair Images will take photos of people posing with their pets and Mrs. Claus for $5.

Since county budget cuts in October, the fund is more important than ever. In addition to pain medication, it allows the continuation ofheartworm prevention and flea control treatments for all the animals, testing for heartworms and feline leukemia, and treatment for pets that arrive at the shelter with heartworms.

"Then we could purchase the heartworm drugs," said Dr. Welch Agnew, assistant director of veterinary services. "And they are really expensive."

One thing the fund can't do is bring back the one full-time and two part-time veterinary technician positions lost.

One of the county's three veterinarian positions was also eliminated. So Dr. Kenny Mitchell, longtime director of veterinary services, will retire in February.

Animobile services, which offers free spaying and neutering to low-income families, have been cut by two-thirds.

"We're just hoping that someday we can rev it back up again," Taylor said.

IF YOU GO

Holiday photos with pets to benefit shelter

Get your photo taken with your favorite pet and Mrs. Claus from 10 a.m. to noon Dec. 8 at Pinellas County Animal Services, 12450 Ulmerton Road, Largo. The $5 cost will help to replenish the shelter's Animal Welfare Trust Fund. Call (727) 582-2600.

[Last modified November 24, 2007, 20:58:39]