Receiving one could depend on whether the Community Investment Tax is reapproved in November.
TAMPA — Lexy is a 10-year-old Redbone Coonhound. Princess Jazzy is a 3-year-old American Staffordshire Terrier. Mya is an AmStaff, too, but is just a year old.
They are among the 300 abandoned, turned-in and stray dogs awaiting adoption at the Hillsborough County Pet Resource Center. But the county-run facility only has room for 200 dogs. For cats, it’s same: There are 150 at the center, and room for just 100.
Overall, the center is at 150% capacity. Is help on the way? That depends.
A new and larger facility is on the county’s $2.6-billion wish list if voters renew the Hillsborough County Community Investment Tax on the November ballot.
Approved by voters in 1996 for 30 years, the half-cent sales tax funds capital improvement projects throughout unincorporated Hillsborough, Tampa, Temple Terrace and Plant City. It is set to end in November 2026.
Voters can reapprove it for another 15 years. If they do, other proposed projects include bridge replacements, repairs to Amalie Arena and Raymond James Stadium, nine new fire stations, stormwater infrastructure and more shade in parks.
A new pet resource center is needed now, and that demand will increase as the county’s human population continues to climb, said Scott Trebatoski, director of the facility.
Early next year, the county might begin designing and budgeting for a new and larger pet resource center, Trebatoski said. Based on what other counties have built in recent years, he estimates it could cost around $100 million.
The current center at 440 N. Falkenburg Road is a single structure that is about 60,000 square feet.
“When the building was first opened in around 1990, they didn’t even have an adoption program,” Trebatoski said. “It was set for animal control. The adoption program didn’t begin until 2005.”
He would like as much as 100,000 square feet spread across multiple buildings. Such a campus would allow them to separate cats from dogs.
Currently, the cats are housed in the lobby area, which means the adopted dogs must be marched past them.
“Cats being stressed in the shelter environment isn’t good for them,” Trebatoski said. “They break out with a lot of illness when they get stressed out.”
Multiple buildings would also make it easier for staff to separate the sick from the healthy animals. That would have helped them deal with the canine influenza that swept through the shelter over the summer.
But, perhaps most importantly, a larger campus would provide the pets more comfort.
“Sometimes we’ll have to split a cage that’s supposed to be for one animal into two cages for two animals,” Trebatoski said. “That can create some issues.”
Most of the dog shelters are meant to provide an indoor and outdoor area. But some must now be split, with one dog staying in the outside area.
“There are coverings out there with fans but it’s not ideal,” Trebatoski said.
Part of the overpopulation issue is due to the center being more humane than in the past.
“A previous philosophy was seven days, all in and all out,” Trebatoski said. “So, pets that came in, let’s say on Sunday, the following Monday, if they weren’t adopted or reclaimed, they were euthanized.”
By the time he joined the center in 2013, the stay time had risen to 14 days.
Today, there is no limit.
“It’s dependent on the animal,” Trebatoski said. “Some animals need more time than other animals. Some animals don’t do well in the shelter. And if they start to decline, we either have to get them out of the shelter or we have to do the right thing, which would be to euthanize them.”
He estimates that the center brings in as many as 10,000-15,000 pets per year and euthanizes around 500.
But the main culprit behind the center’s population increase seems to be the growth of Hillsborough’s human population, Trebatoski said.
In 2010, the county had 1.2 million residents, according to that year’s census. The most recent census, conducted in 2020, counted nearly 1.5 million residents.
“Even if only a couple of percent of the animal population ends up in the shelter, when you’re increasing by 40,000 people, they’re probably bringing 40,000 pets,” Trebatoski said. “Not everybody has a pet, but most have multiple pets, especially in warmer climates.”
Housing has forced many people to give up their pets if they want a place to live, he said.
“The rental availability is going down. When housing is not at that kind of a crunch, you’ve got rental properties trying to attract people. So, they might open up to animals, but it turns the other way.”
The center’s overcrowding could be worse. If people are considering turning in their pets due to financial reasons, the center seeks to alleviate that by providing free food or assisting with medical care.
They also have nearly 3,000 foster homes that shelter up to 500 pets at a time.
If the Community Investment Tax does not pass, Trebatoski hopes the county finds another way to fund a new facility. And he wants taxpayers to know that it could benefit the local economy.
“The American Pet Product Producers Association estimates that someone spends $1,500 the first year that they get a pet and approximately $1,000 a year after that for dogs and $800 a year for cats,” he said. “And since we’re adopting out about 10,000 plus each year, that should be your factor.”
Paul Guzzo is a culture reporter who covers all things interesting in Florida, from pro wrestling to the film industry. Reach him at pguzzo@tampabay.com.
