County Commissioner Ken Hagan said the county's current 65 percent euthanasia rate is unacceptable.
There's changes on the horizon for Hillsborough County Animal Services as a new director comes on board and the county studies ways to reduce the number of animals euthanized at the shelter at 440 N. Falkenburg Rd., Tampa. At the Hillsborough County Commission meeting May 2, County Administrator Mike Merrill said the county will release the name of the new director of the shelter. For the past several years, Animal Services has been overseen by interim directors, most recently Jack Carlisle. Merrill told commissioners that the chosen candidate was selected after a comprehensive review of candidates including members of the veterinary community and members of the Hillsborough County Animal Advisory Committee. "There were a lot of …
What should Hillsborough County do to reduce its animal euthanasia rate?
An estimated 14,500 animals are euthanized each year by Hillsborough County Animal Services. Those numbers, according to The Tampa Tribune, have at least one commissioner concerned. “I think we can do better,” Commissioner Ken Hagan told The Tampa Tribune. To that end, Hagan is expected to ask commissioners to look into studying the possibility of adopting a no-kill policy in Hillsborough. Under a no-kill policy, healthy animals that are deemed worthy of adoption are never euthanized to make room in a shelter. Other communities around the country, including Manatee County, have adopted no-kill policies with some success. Austin, Texas, for example, has a 90 percent save rate, the Tribune reports. (Read the Tribune’s full story by …
Hillsborough County is moving toward adopting a no-kill policy.
What do you think needs to be accomplished for Hillsborough County to become a no-kill community? Tell us in the comments section below. Submitted by Linda Hamilton: Hillsborough County commissioner Ken Hagan announced recently that our county will become a no-kill community. Hagan spoke before an audience of 250 people during a Save 90 conference held recently at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa. The Alliance to Save 90 is an activist group whose goal is to find homes for 90 percent of the animals that end up at the county’s shelter. Hagan said that the no-kill movement will save lives and change the paradigm and way of doing business in Hillsborough County and that he was proud to be playing a small part in this movement. "I am …
kathy shemack
6:08 pm on Friday, May 4, 2012
i adopted 2 dogs from hillsborough and i think its about darn time that its made a no kill shelter, in fact, i think all these county shelters should be made no kill. its sheer nonsense to think that animals can be adopted out in these shelters 5 day policies. more ›