Rising tide

KAREN FELDMAN / FLORIDA WEEKLY These 8-week-old kittens were found as strays and are available for adoption at Lee County Animal Services. When hundreds of people and their pets converge on the grounds of Lee County Animal Services for the eighth annual Fall Pet Fest on Saturday, the mood will be festive, with games, goodies and fun.

But the underlying reason for the event couldn't be grimmer: Lee County, like the rest of the country, has far more animals needing homes than homes wanting animals. The result is that thousands of animals must be euthanized each year.

"The purpose of Pet Fest is to increase awareness about the county's homeless pet population and what people can do to make the situation better," says Ria Brown, public information specialist for Lee County Animal Services, which sponsors the event. "People should spay and neuter their pets. They can adopt from a shelter or donate to help other people get their pets spayed and neutered. They can volunteer or foster."

In each of the past two years, Animal Services euthanized more than 10,600 animals. In the first nine months of this year, 6,682 dogs and cats were euthanized. And while euthanasia rates are down somewhat from 2007, so are adoptions.

KAREN FELDMAN / FLORIDA WEEKLY Zeus, a friendly Great Dane, looks around the Lee County Animal Services kennel in search of some attention. Animal Refuge Center in North Fort Myers is a private, not-for-profit shelter currently housing 360 cats and 55 dogs. No one involved with this group has to watch the news to know times are tough. The shelter has had to hire someone to do nothing but handle phone calls, most of which come from owners desperate to find a place for animals they can no longer keep.

"The phone calls and Web requests from owners are through the roof," says Betty Hughes, ARC's board treasurer. "It's a total crisis. We easily get 70 calls a day for owner release and about 25 requests on the Web."

That's roughly 100 people a day looking to give up pets they can no longer afford to care for or take with them because their homes are in foreclosure. Ms. Hughes says some people leave animals behind when they move, most outside in the hope a neighbor will care for them. But it gets worse than that.

She says one ARC board member, a real estate saleswoman, went to check on an empty house "and heard barking from inside. She found a puppy in a crate. It had been in there a week. It had no food or water and was covered in feces. What we're seeing out there is just horrible."

Private, not-for-profit shelters and breed rescue groups struggle to handle the increased number of animals needing their services while also facing declining donations.

And while the economic downturn has contributed to the current problem, all the usual reasons people give up their animals remain.

"When we look at the reasons people give for surrendering pets they are the same as always, " says Ms. Brown. "They're getting a divorce, they're having a new baby, they have too many pets, they're allergic, they're moving, the pet has a behavior they don't like or it's sick."

Animal Services staff now tries to help people solve some of those problems without turning the animals in to the county-run facility.

"They should look at us as a last resort as opposed to the first resort," she says. "People want us to reduce the euthanasia numbers. If we take in every animal that walks in the door, and there's no space for it, we can't say we won't euthanize that animal or another to make room for it."

Animal Services, ARC and the Gulf Coast Humane Society have taken some positive steps this year in an effort to decrease the number of homeless pets both through stepped up sterilization efforts and programs aimed at keeping pets in their homes.

The Gulf Coast Humane Society opened a veterinary clinic providing a range of services at moderate prices.

Animal Refuge Center now has a training center where experts work on obedience and behavior issues with homeless dogs in an effort to make them more adoptable. The non-profit center also funds sterilizations for the animals of people who cannot afford to pay for the service.

Animal Services has expanded its sterilization program, which once served only those on public assistance. Now, anyone can use the service and get basic veterinary services at low cost. It also runs a behavior hotline (535-9430), through which people can get help with behavior problems that often lead to surrender of pets. And, for those who cannot afford to buy food, the agency runs a food pantry, supplying food so the animal can remain in its home.

"It's better than having them give us the pet, which can end up being euthanized," says Brown. "The animals can stay in the homes they have with families that love them. We'll help with vaccinations. We do everything we can to help animals stay in their home or refer people to better solutions than surrendering them to us."

By the numbers

If you go

>>What: Eighth annual Fall Pet Fest

>>Where: Lee County Animal Services, 5600 Banner Drive (off Six Mile Cypress Parkway behind the Lee County Sheriff's Office), Fort Myers

>>When: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1

>>Why: This event features fun pets and people as well as dozens of homeless pets awaiting loving homes. There will be contests, including best costume and dancing with dogs; a dog fashion show; flyball, agility and obedience demonstrations; a marketplace with vendors offering pet goods and services; games; music; a raffle and a silent auction. Several area shelters and rescue groups will be on hand with adoptable animals.

>>Info: Call Lee County Animal Services at 533- 7397 or visit www.LeeLostPets.com.