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(352) 588-1127 |
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To contact us:
Phone: (352) 588-1127 or 1-877-NOWSPAY Fax: (352) 588-3657 E-mail: spaypasco@yahoo.com Mail: PO Box 506, San Antonio FL 33576
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Spay Pasco loves cats, wants fewer of themBy Erin Sullivan, Times Staff Writer SAN ANTONIO — Becky Jones is so passionate about reducing the feral cat population in Pasco County that she found herself coercing her nearly 70-year-old mother to sit in a dog cage. It's one of the plans that Jones, practice manager for the San Antonio Animal Hospital and a board member for Spay Pasco, has to raise money. Her mom — who also dressed as Santa at the animal hospital this year — and the aforementioned cage will be at Spay Pasco's booth at the Dade City Cruise-In on April 5. Jones had the idea that people could donate money to the nonprofit organization, with the crux that her mom won't be let out of the cage until they reach a certain amount of donations, say, 100 bucks or so. It's like a PBS telethon, except with Charlie Rose locked in a booth. "Who could walk past and let an old lady stay in a cage?" Jones said, jokingly and with affection. She and her mom choose to find the good in life and are up for anything, if it saves the lives of animals. This will be Spay Pasco's first time staffing a booth at the Cruise-In, which has antique cars and food and vendors from 3 to 8 p.m. the first Saturday of each month in downtown Dade City. Spay Pasco, which began last summer and has a goal of spaying and neutering all the feral cats in eastern Pasco, is gaining force. It has more volunteers (though it always needs more) and its own building on the grounds of the animal hospital. A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the building will be at noon Tuesday, with light refreshments served. Dr. Diana Joyner-Mattox founded Spay Pasco and she volunteers her time every Friday to do the spay and neuter surgeries. Volunteers trap and transport the cats to the hospital. Though Spay Pasco, right now, focuses on feral cat colonies in eastern Pasco, it will later include cats and dogs across the county and will work toward legislation aimed at getting the stray animal population to zero. Joyner-Mattox said more than 10,000 cats and dogs are euthanized in Pasco County each year because there is no place for them. And the veterinarian can't stand it that healthy animals are being killed just because they don't have a home. Spay Pasco offers low-cost spay and neutering for the animals of people who otherwise couldn't afford it. The fee is $25 per cat, which barely covers the cost of the procedure — not including time spent catching and transporting the kitties. Since December, Spay Pasco has spayed or neutered 60 cats, which has saved thousands of lives, if not millions, because of the frequency with which cats reproduce. "We are reducing the euthanasia rate in Pasco County," Jones said. Erin Sullivan can be reached at esullivan@sptimes.com or (813) 909-4609. >>fast facts If you go Spay Pasco is having a ribbon-cutting ceremony at noon Tuesday at its new office, at 32347 State Road 52, Building B, in San Antonio. The office is on the grounds of the San Antonio Animal Hospital. Light refreshments will be served. To RSVP or to get more information about Spay Pasco, e-mail spaypasco@yahoo.com or call (352) 588-1127. A Web site for Spay Pasco will be up and running soon, as well as T-shirts for sale with all proceeds going to the organization. The nonprofit organization has a general meeting for volunteers and the public at 7 p.m. the first Tuesday of each month at the train depot in San Antonio, which is across the street from the community baseball fields just off Curley Street. Beginning April 5, Spay Pasco will have a booth at all of the Dade City Cruise-In events for the rest of 2008. The festival is on the first Saturday of every month in downtown Dade City. From 3 to 8 p.m. there are antique cars and food and vendors. Call (352) 567-3769 for more information. Spay Pasco also is collecting ink-jet cartridges to recycle as a fundraiser. Please mail your used cartridges to P.O. Box 237, San Antonio, FL 33576 or drop them off at 32347 State Road 52.
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Having kitties nevermoreA veterinarian's nonprofit group offers a low-cost spay/neuter program for feral cats. By ERIN SULLIVAN, Times Staff Writer SAN ANTONIO - It was starting to get dark and cold, a strong wind blowing through the trees and old shed, but the women wouldn't leave. They had flashlights and huge nets and metal traps, laced with good-smelling food. They wanted at least one more, so they put on jackets and waited. "I see an ear," Carol Comer said, shining a light into the shed's rafters. They already had two oatmeal-and-chocolate Siamese cats and two black-and-white tuxedo kittens in cages in their vans, covered with soft blankets and given bowls of food. As night closed in, they got one more: a black-and-white tomcat, probably the kittens' father. The women are volunteers for Spay Pasco, a nonprofit organization that offers low-cost spay and neutering for the animals of people who otherwise couldn't afford it. The fee is $25 per cat, which barely covers the cost of the procedure - not including time spent catching and transporting the kitties. It was Thursday night at the home of an elderly couple who have been feeding a colony of feral cats. The couple live off a dirt road in Trilby, their land small and quiet and full of kumquat, grapefruit and orange trees and rusting tractors. They don't have much money, but the cats were hungry so they've been feeding them dry food. They aren't spry enough to trap the cats to bring them to a veterinarian's office to get them fixed - not that they could afford it, anyway. The cost for these surgeries can range from $90 to hundreds of dollars, depending on where you go. A friend contacted Spay Pasco to see if it could help. And it could - though normally, people are asked to trap the cats themselves and bring them in for surgery. These volunteers work and have busy lives, but they care about reducing the feral cat population and making sure these kitties are healthy. Comer, a dog trainer, drove from her home in Brooksville to Trilby to catch these cats. Trapping feral cats is not easy. One time, she tried to catch a male cat outside her house so she could get him neutered. The first night, she caught a raccoon. The second night, she caught her own cat three times he couldn't stay away from the canned food, which he normally doesn't get. "On the third night, I finally got that tomcat," Comer said. At the Trilby house, after hours of enticing the kitties with canned food and sardines, they captured five. A trip back that night got one more. They aren't giving up on the other cats who live there, and will keep trying. The cats were taken to the San Antonio Animal Hospital and spayed or neutered Friday morning. They also were dewormed and given rabies shots. The cats' stitches will dissolve with time. Soon they will be released back on the couple's land. Most feral cats cannot be adopted - they've grown up wild, with a distrust of people. Spay Pasco has been an idea in Dr. Diana Joyner-Mattox's mind for a few years, but it became a reality last summer. It is still gaining momentum and has about 10 volunteers. At the moment, Spay Pasco is focusing on reducing the feral cat population on the eastern side of Pasco County. Later, it will include cats and dogs across the county and will work toward legislation aimed at getting the stray animal population to zero. More than 10,000 cats and dogs are euthanized in Pasco County each year because there is no place for them, said Joyner-Mattox, of the San Antonio Animal Hospital and founder of Spay Pasco. "I don't have all the time in the world. I don't have all the money in the world," Joyner-Mattox said. "But I know I can make a little bit of difference here." Her long-term goal is for Pasco County to never have to euthanize healthy animals just because they don't have a home. Instead of focusing on adoption, Joyner-Mattox is going to the source: making sure animals can't have the litters of babies that are unwanted and not cared for. Spay Pasco was recently approved by the state as a nonprofit, so money donated to the cause is tax-deductible. The organization is looking for an executive director, who will organize outreach projects, advertise, network, apply for grants, do the scheduling, create coalitions with other agencies and do other work with Spay Pasco. Joyner-Mattox most likely will pay the executive director's salary from her own pocket until the organization gets going and can pay it. But if that's what it takes, she's going to do it. "We are euthanizing these animals as a convenience," Joyner-Mattox said. "And that is not acceptable." Erin Sullivan can be reached at esullivan@sptimes.com or (813) 909-4609. Spay Pasco For more information about this organization or to report a feral cat colony, call (352) 585-6205. If you would like to donate money, write checks out to Spay Pasco and send them to P.O. Box 237, San Antonio, FL 33576. |
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Amy Greif and her father, Eddie Herrmann (above) and Ginny Wood (below) allowed themselves to be caged to raise money for Spay Pasco during Dade City’s Cruise-In on Saturday, May 3rd. |
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$844 was raised from this event! |