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Push To Rescue Pets Is Tail-Wagging Success

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 6, 2008

How a community treats its abandoned pets is a measure of its public efficiency and its private heart. Hillsborough County has reason to be proud of both.

Hillsborough County Animal Services - working in concert with animal welfare groups and a legion of volunteers - has performed a remarkable turnabout and is now saving thousands of animals who might have met a horrible end.

Just 18 months ago, animal services' numbers were dismaying. More than eight out of every 10 animals that came into the shelter were euthanized and fewer than 10 percent of the 34,000 animals the overwhelmed shelter dealt with every year were adopted.

The statistics, and the resulting public outrage, inspired the government and the community to unite in attacking the problem.

It may take a village to raise a child, but it also takes one to give unwanted puppies and kittens a chance to live long and happy lives.

Animal Services Director Bill Armstrong has done yeoman's work in reversing those grim numbers, but credit also is due to his staff and volunteers.

And the whole community deserves credit too. Despite the bad economy, the number of animals coming into the shelter has declined from about 33,000 last year to less than 27,000 this year. That means two things: Fewer people are dumping their animals and spay and neuter programs are starting to show results.

There are other highpoints:

•Adoptions are up by one-third, thanks to new partnerships with local animal rescue groups and better outreach to households looking for a new pet. More than 5,300 animals in the last year have found new homes, and Animal Services has drawn on the strength of groups like the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Humane Society and rescue groups specializing in a single breed to make sure more homeless cats and dogs get a new lease on life.

•Euthanasias are down more than 9 percent, to about 24,000 for the year. The grim reality is the shelter cannot save extremely sick, old and injured animals, but concerted efforts are being made to make sure healthy animals don't get sick in the shelter and have to be put down.

One important change was scrapping an automatic water system that was a breeding ground for diseases. Water bowls are all now filled by hand, which is more work for people but healthier for the critters.

•Shelter visits have surged a remarkable 50 percent - nearly 71,000 people have come to the shelter looking for a pet in the last 12 months, up from 47,000 in the same period last year. Reducing the time tagless animals are held before they can be adopted also helps improve adoption rates.

•More vouchers to have animals spayed and neutered are being sent out and more are being redeemed.

Armstrong is quick to credit new partnerships with the ASPCA's Mission Orange, which targeted communities that had severe animal control problems. Hillsborough County was given a grant to expand its volunteer programs.

Adoption fairs and special events - staffed largely by volunteers - have helped thousands of animals find new homes. Soon a donated RV will become a mobile adoption center that will tour the county.

This progress is promising, but the effort must not stall.

There are some things a community should not tolerate. Cruelty to animals is among them.

So is dooming thousands of friendly dogs and cats that could be matched with a good home.

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