HARLINGEN — The Harlingen Humane Society is broke.
“We’re out of money,” President Pat Turman-White said yesterday. “Our revenues are gone.”
So officials are requesting a $50,000 “emergency donation” from the City of Harlingen to remain in operation.
“We are literally one pay-period away from having to shut down the facility,” Turman-White wrote City Manager Dan Serna in an April 3 letter.
Pat Turman-White told Serna the $50,000 would “help us get through the year.”
The Harlingen Humane Society, located at 1106 Markowsky, operates on an annual budget of about $1 million, she said.
Donations generate most of the revenue, while the City of Harlingen gives the agency $135,000 a year to help fund services.
Now, the financial crisis has led the humane society to “cut back on several programs,” Turman-White told Serna.
Turman-White said an estimated 50 percent of the humane society’s subsidized spay and neutering services are performed on dogs and cats from outside Harlingen.
The humane society has offered subsidized spay and neutering services for dogs and cats from outside Harlingen but area cities have refused to help share in those costs, she said.
“We get animals dropped off from all the surrounding cities and none of the cities are helping to pay for it,” she said.
Turman-White said the agency cannot afford to continue to subsidize costs for residents outside Harlingen.
So the agency has been forced to increase costs of spay and neutering services for dogs and cats from outside Harlingen, Turman-White said.
“Our city has a legitimate complaint,” she said. “The funds we receive from the City of Harlingen are for the care of the animals of Harlingen.”
Now, the agency is charging pet owners outside Harlingen $85 to spay and neuter dogs and $55 for cats.
Before, the agency was charging them $20 for dogs and $10 for cats.
Increased costs likely mean the area’s stray population will grow, agency Executive Director Kim Warunke said.
“The surrounding communities are going to see a significant increase” in stray dogs and cats, Warunke said. “The stray population affects the health of kids and the value of property.”
The program offering subsidized spay and neutering services has dramatically slashed the number of stray dogs and cats euthanized at the shelter.
“It’s disappointing to us to be forced into this position because we know the difference we’ve made,” Warunke said.
In 2007, the humane society euthanized 8,100 dogs and cats.
Last year, that number dropped to 5,041.
“There’s a direct correlation between vouchers and count,” Turman-White said. “The minute we stop helping you, your numbers are going to go up.”
Budget cuts also led to increases in sheltering costs from $10 to $20 for dogs and cats from outside Harlingen.
Under law, the humane society is required to hold dogs and cats for at least three days to give owners a chance to pick them up.
