BUYING time

I t's human folly, frailty and misfortune that's caused the problem, but it's millions of innocent, surplus animals that pay the price.

The reasons people cite for giving

up their animals vary - "too many

pets," "allergies," "landlord wouldn't allow," "divorce," "stray," "moving" - but the result is the same: Between 6 million and 8 million dogs and cats wind up in U.S. shelters every year.

Half will be adopted.

The other half - that's 3 million to 4 million - will die there.

This is the gut-wrenching daily reality at Lee County Animal Services in south Fort Myers, where officials euthanized close to 11,000 of the 16,240 animals they took in last year. They expect to take in 17,000 animals this year.

Walk through the shelter's cavernous room that houses upwards of 100 homeless dogs, or the smaller but equally heart-rending cat room, and read the slips clipped to cage doors. Each tells a sad tale.

There's Missy, a velvety silver fluff ball of a cat who purrs at the first touch, returned because her owner said she didn't eat well.

Nearby are Tygar and Kya, siblings rescued from a Dumpster and adopted by someone who clearly cared about them, as evidenced by the two-page letter she wrote describing their sweet personalities and how they'd scamper into bed each night when she called them. But her landlord banned them and the owner was unable to find them another home or a private shelter with room to accept them.

There's Spike, a lively young German shepherd/Labrador mix, whose owner dropped him off when he moved out of town.

And, in the holding area, a Chihuahua stares sadly through his chain-link door of his concrete run, looking for an owner who gave him up because, at 8 years old and with a touch of gray coloring his snout and eyebrows, he's "too old."

Shifting fortunes

In recent years, natural disasters and economic hard times have further damaged man's relationship with his companion animals: First came hurricanes such as Charley and Katrina and now rampant home foreclosures and unemployment are forcing people to give up their pets.

"Owner surrenders are going up," says Ria Brown, spokeswoman for Lee County Animal Services. "Many people can no longer afford to care for their pets."

Then there are owners who let their pets breed; only to discover they can't find homes for the offspring.

"Instead of spaying or neutering, they bring the animals to the shelter then blame the shelter because it didn't get the pets a home," Brown says.

It's a Gordian knot: By law, the shelter must hold strays for five days and quarantined animals for twice that long. Because it's a public shelter, the law also requires it to accept all the animals that come in. With room for about 250 at a time, there's only a limited amount of space left for those voluntarily surrendered by owners.

"It won't make a difference if the owned animal is more adoptable. The law requires us to keep strays for 5 days," Brown says. "If people absolutely have to surrender a pet, they should exhaust all other possibilities before bringing it to a government shelter because our hands are tied."

Private, non-profit shelters don't euthanize for space so they are generally full, too.

"If we could turn some of our pets over to another shelter that would be an easy thing, but there's no easy fix," Brown says.

The grim result: More than two-thirds of the animals surrendered by owners last year were euthanized.

On the front lines

The county-run Animal Services department fights the pet overpopulation battle on as many fronts as possible.

It's long promoted adoption and offered vouchers good toward discounted pet sterilization at many private veterinary hospitals. The staff makes regular appearances at schools and club meetings to educate people about responsible pet ownership and the crisis of pet over-

Ready to adopt

These are just a few of the more than 16,000 animals that have landed at Lee County Animal Services in the past year. They are currently available for adoption but will have to be euthanized as new ones arrive. Last year, the county agency euthanized close to 11,000 animals. For more information, contact call Animal Services at 432-2083 or visit www.LeeLost- Pets.com Cats >>Name: Princess ID: 376492 Details: This four-month-old female is a rarity as most orange cats are male. She was left in Animal Services' night cage.

>>Name: Missy ID: 373769 Details: With a beautiful medium-length silver coat, Missy is velvety smooth and loves to be held. The one-year-old cat was surrendered by her owner because she wasn't eating well.

>>Name: Stevie ID: 260099 Details: A handsome boy with a tortoise coat, 5-yearold Stevie likes to play fetch with paper balls. He was tuned in to Animal Services because his owner didn't time for a pet.

>>Name: Sandy ID: 374922 Details: A lynx point Siamese mix, Sandy is a young male looking for a loving home.

>>Name: Garth ID: 376422 Details: Garth is a gray and white tabby that was left in Animal Services' night cage by his owner.

>>Name: Dexter ID: 376568 Details: At 4 months old, Dexter is a vocal little boy who loves attention.

>>Name: Tinkerbell ID: 376390 Details: Tinkerbell is a beautiful, one-year-old Maine coon whose owner surrendered her.

>>Name: Tux ID: 370625 Details: Given up by her owner, Tux is an 18-month-old who enjoys being petted.

>>Name: Bella ID: 377385 Details: A blue tabby, Bella and her siblings like to groom one another and play. She was given up because her owner had too many cats.

>>Name: Nina ID: 377384 Details: Along with her sister Bella and two other kittens, this lynx point female wound up at Animal Services because her owner had too many cats.

Dogs >>Name: Halley ID: 375127 Details: A small pug/beagle mix, Halley is an affectionate little dog that was picked up as a stray.

>>Name: Stripe ID: 376993 Details: A hound mix with a white racing stripe on his face, Stripe is a funloving puppy.

>>Name: Henry ID: 376901 Details: Henry is a young pug mix who was picked up as a stray. >>Name: Bentley ID: 291369 Details: This 2-year-old great Dane is gentle, affectionate and sits on command. He was given up because his owner's landlord wouldn't allow him to keep the dog.

>>Name: Audi ID: 365907 Details: A pit bull mix, Audi is a friendly little female whose tail wags at the slightest attention. She was picked up as a stray. >>Name: Juicy ID:345838 Details: A 10-month-old female hound mix, Juicy was confiscated by Animal Services.

>>Name: Red ID: 376607 Details: This little beagle is shy but loves attention and would blossom in a loving home.

>>Name: Sheba ID: 377757 Details: At 8 weeks of age, this little German shepherd/ Labrador mix was given up by an owner who had too many dogs.

>>Name: Mars ID: 375333 Details: Mars is a one-year-old beagle mix who is lively and loves to play.

Rabbit >>Name: Harvey ID: 376380 Details: This fuzzy male bunny is about 18 months old.

population.

Animal control officers conduct regular sweeps of problem neighborhoods, rounding up strays that would otherwise breed and produce still more animals for which there are no homes.

The agency conducts low-cost microchip ID clinics periodically. That way strays can be quickly reunited with their owners, bypassing the shelter altogether and freeing up space.

On Saturday, Nov. 3, Animal Services will partner with several other area animal welfare groups for the seventh annual Fall Pet Fest, a day of family activities aimed at promoting adoption and sterilization.

It's a good way to attract people to the shelter," says Brown. "It also shows first-hand how many homeless animals there are in Lee County and how many great pets you can adopt from a shelter or a rescue group. There's no reason to purchase a pet, especially when so many are dying."

This year, Animal Services also launched the NASA (Neuter and Spay Always) Spay Station, a mobile surgical unit that makes scheduled stops throughout the county so that people with limited income and transportation can get their pets sterilized. The money for the state-of-the-art veterinary clinic on wheels came from license fees pet owners pay to the county.

The mobile unit charges $20 per pet. For those on public assistance, it's free. Besides the surgery, pets get vaccines and microchip IDs. Demand for the service is high, with the weekly clinics booked up through Nov. 20.

Bridget Trosterud of Lehigh Acres took her two cats, Cali and Cartman, to the van two weeks ago when it parked at the Lakes Regional Library in south Fort Myers.

Currently a math major at Florida Gulf Coast University, "money's tight," she says. "I'm paying for this out of my savings account."

Alpha Parke Williams of south Fort Myers didn't pay anything to have her 2-year-old cat, B.G., neutered.

"There's no charge because I'm on disability and I'm 65," she says. "It's the greatest thing."

She brought the Animal Services staff homemade brownies to express her gratitude.

Veterinarian Chris Taylor divides his time between his own practice, Lighthouse Pet Clinic in Lehigh Acres, and Animal Services' in-house clinic and mobile unit.

He says he can perform between 15 and 20 sterilizations a day on the van.

While that may seem like an insignificant number, consider these statistics provided by the Humane Society of the United States: a fertile dog can produce two litters of six to 10 puppies a year. A cat can give birth to three litters of four to six kittens in a year. And then those offspring can do the same thing. In a matter of five or six years, that can mean hundreds of thousands more homeless pets.

Taylor urges all pet owners to sterilize their pets.

"It's not better for them to have a litter first," he says. "Early spaying will help prevent mammary cancer later on."

As for the males, "they need to be neutered before 9 months of age," he says, before they learn to lift their legs and urinate on the furniture.

"Neuter them early and they won't do that," he says. "It also stops roaming. A neutered dog doesn't roam looking for girls."

Judie Piccola, a long-time animal advocate who runs SPAY-LEE, a group devoted to promoting pet sterilization, says, "We're making some progress in overall numbers, but we're not getting enough of a handle on the problem. Responsible pet owners are getting their animals spayed and neutered. Their animals are not reproducing. For others, whether it's cultural or just not an issue, they are continuing to cause the problem here."

And so the animals keep piling up at Animal Services, more of them every year. Without a change in public attitude, thousands more animals are destined to be destroyed.

"There's an end of the line somewhere and your government shelter is it," says Brown. "This is where they end up and we're forced to make the decision about which ones stay and which ones go."