Pasco Commissioner ‘Frustrated’ With Overcrowding at Animal Services

Pasco County Animal Services started 2013 with a flurry of activity promoting adoptions and working to achieve a goal of saving 90 percent of the creatures in its care from euthanasia.

Free adoptions were sponsored by community leaders in January and February. Community outreach and special events were planned and promoted, and things were looking up as far as adoptions were concerned.

Then March arrived. Now, the number of animals in the Land O’ Lakes shelter is on the rise, and available housing for cats and dogs especially is fast running out.

”They’re starting to double up in the cages,” said Pasco County Commissioner Pat Mulieri. “We did very well in February — 125 adoptions. In March, the adoptions have been slower.”

According to county intake reports, the total number of dogs and cats in the shelter as of March 24 was 201 combined. March started out with 170 dogs and cats housed in the facility.

What’s Different in March?

Mulieri says a number of factors have come into play to lead to the overcrowding of kennels at animal services.

“I also think that we haven’t been very creative in March,” she said. “We were kind of slow in the uptake.”

Unlike the first two months of the year, March has only seen a few special events to help market adoptable animals to potential new owners and those events, Mulieri said, weren’t heavily publicized by animal services.

A decline in the number of rescue groups taking dogs from Pasco County has also hurt, she said. The reasons for that, she said, are twofold. Some of the blame lies in ongoing problems at animal services that have discouraged rescue groups from working with the county. Part of the concern is the costs rescue groups have to shoulder to have dogs they take spayed or neutered, she said.

Mulieri’s Involvement

Mulieri has been an outspoken champion of Pasco’s unwanted pets for quite some time. Most recently, she has been volunteering personally at the shelter, helping clean cages, exercise dogs and get a feel for the agency.

Her interest in taking a closer look at what was happening to Pasco’s unwanted dogs and cats was piqued by the very same rescue groups who are hesitating to work with the county.

“It was the animal advocates that picked away at my scabs of complacency,” she said.

Mulieri’s involvement helped put Pasco County on the path to adopting its Save 90 policy and a new business plan for animal services. To reach the 90 percent saved goal, awareness campaigns were launched and special events were staged to increase adoptions.

But the momentum has slowed and problems at animal services persist. Allegations of poor medical care have been raised. An animal that was meant to go to a rescue was put to sleep due to an “oversight.”

“There’s always excuses,” said Mulieri. “I just feel so frustrated.”

Saving dogs and cats that are healthy and adoptable is important to Mulieri.

“When you take a healthy adoptable animal — even an old animal — that is not euthanasia, that is killing.”

Want to find out how to help? Read: Adopt a Pet for Free in April and Volunteer Vets Sought for Animal Services.