By Al Everson
posted Jun 30, 2008 - 8:53:50am
Two-legged friends of four-footed creatures claim their appeals to Volusia County leaders to stop the killing of unwanted dogs and cats have yielded nothing, so they are asking for federal help.
Frustrated over the county's animal-control ordinances and the high rates of euthanasia at animal shelters, several animal lovers called for congressional intervention on behalf of stray and abandoned pets. Their efforts may pay off.
"I love animals, and what they are doing is killing them," Anne Zessin of Osteen told Dick Harkey, an administrative aide to U.S. Rep. John Mica. "In Volusia County, you're allowed to have four animals. ... Volusia County has the most restrictive law after Miami-Dade and West Palm Beach."
Harkey took time June 17 to confer with Zessin and fellow animal-welfare advocates at Mica's office in Deltona.
"We have been trying for years to work on the feral-cat issue," Karen Clark of Glenwood told Harkey. "Seventy percent of the problem is cats."
DeLand resident Jeannine Colletti said too many adoptable dogs and cats are being destroyed, after being picked up by animal-control officers.
"The majority of the people don't know where their tax dollars are going," Colletti said.
Kristy Grant, whose cat sanctuary in Pierson has been at the center of a protracted legal battle with Volusia County, told Harkey the county "spent $1.5 million euthanizing animals last year."
"I receive, spay and neuter every animal," she said. "I'm trying to save lives."
"Think about what she saved the county," Colletti said, referring to Grant.
The county's new spay-and-neuter ordinance came in for criticism from the group. Clark said local veterinarians charge too much for sterilizing a dog or cat.
"That's the problem — the cost," she explained.
Although the county's Pet Vet Cruiser — a mobile spay-and-neuter clinic — is available to low-income residents in the unincorporated areas, Clark and others say pet owners of limited means who aren't eligible for Pet Vet Cruiser services may be forced to give up their furry companions.
After letting the Volusians vent their concerns and make their pleas, Harkey first said he doubts the federal government has a dog in the fight, so to speak.
"Congressman Mica — he is the federal government, and so he is concerned with federal issues," Harkey responded, suggesting the group take their case to state lawmakers, such as Rep. Pat Patterson, R-DeLand, or Sen. Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach. "I told you I would listen to you. ... There is no federal law I know of that would address this issue."
But it could become a federal issue, Clark and the other Mica constituents argued, "if there's any kind of federal grant" the group could obtain for developing a county-owned animal-care facility, perhaps in the Tiger Bay area next to the Volusia County Branch Jail.
As well as focusing on saving animals and seeking homes for them, Clark said such a shelter would be a place where jail inmates could gain vocational training, by learning to care for animals.
The proposed shelter would also be a place where groups such as the Future Farmers of America could gain valuable knowledge about animals.
"I'll check on that. I'll see if there is grant money for a facility," Harkey said.
To secure a federal grant, he said, the group would have to make a definite plan for how to use the money, and would probably be required to prove they have other funding.
"Most grants require a match. If you go up expecting 100 percent, you're not going to get it," said Harkey.
Other funding, he added, may come from the Volusia ECHO program. ECHO is an acronym for the county's effort to acquire or develop environmental, cultural, historical or outdoor-recreational assets. The first letters of the italicized words form the word ECHO.
The ECHO program was approved by a majority of the county's voters in 2000, and it is supported by a property tax of one-fifth of a mill.
Harkey asked the group to "get an executive summary on what the concept is," and to "show you've got a broad base of support."
He added, "There are over 1,400 grant programs."
Clark was hopeful, saying a county-supported animal sanctuary on public land "could be self-sustaining within three years."
To bolster their case and to improve their chances of success, especially at the federal level, Harkey even suggested the group do what other special interests do.
"Basically, you need to have a professional lobbyist to present your issues," he told his audience. "Sometimes you actually need to get a lobbyist."
Before the County Council approved the spay-and-neuter ordinance June 5, some opponents had proposed the county establish a shelter that would be a no-kill or low-kill alternative to Halifax Humane Society.
Of the more than 17,000 animals Halifax Humane Society took in last year, according to Halifax Executive Director James Noe, almost 1,200 were reclaimed by their owners. About 2,900 were adopted. The others, almost 13,000, were destroyed.
Halifax Humane Society charges the county and cities to impound strays or unwanted pets for three days. After three days, the dog or cat may be euthanized.
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