Vet on board at shelter

MAT-SU -- Pets coming into the Mat-Su Animal Care and Regulation shelter will now have full-time veterinarian coverage at hand -- one step toward the future goal of having spay/neuter services available at the shelter.

Lisa Espey, formerly with the Alaska Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, recently agreed to be the Mat-Su Borough's first-ever full-time veterinarian, a position those involved with the shelter have been asking be added for years.

The position, with benefits, pays about $92,000, according to Borough Finance Director Tammy Clayton. Part of that equation, she said, includes higher worker's compensation than most borough jobs -- 2.2 percent, she said, compared with the 1/2-percent figured into an office worker's salary.

Previously, the borough shelter's veterinarian services have been handled through a bid-out contractual agreement. When the $30,300 contract with Palmer Veterinary Clinic came to a close recently, it was re-evaluated. With growth in the borough, there's been an increase in the number of after-hours and weekend calls, and that increase has corresponded with more requests for after-hours veterinary service -- animals hit by vehicles, rescue situations and other incidents.

Clayton said during the last fiscal year, payment for after-hours services added up to about $10,000. In the three months since the new fiscal year began, she said, the after-hours service has cost about $6,400. And, Borough Manager John Duffy said, when the after-hours contract went out for bid, no one bid on it.

"Besides the cost, and the inability for us to get veterinary services after hours, it also seemed to make sense to me to take the existing shelter position, which was open, and revise the job description to get a higher level of expertise within the shelter," Duffy said.

The veterinarian position replaces what had been a vacant shelter assistant position, and, Duffy said, brings an added level of care to the shelter. Espey is also the shelter manager, and will oversee shelter staff and operations.

Animal Care and Regulation Chief Officer Dave Allison said it is a step toward the future.

"We're setting ourselves up for success, rather than being always behind the ball, so to speak," Allison said. "This allows us to deal with spay and neuter issues; it allows us to deal with animals that come in here -- the sick and injured animals. There's the benefit of knowing that the animals here in our shelter are getting the best care and management they can receive."

The Animal Care and Regulation branch of the borough's emergency services department is required by code, department head Jack Krill said, to spay or neuter animals prior to their being adopted out. Currently, the borough requires a $30 spay and neuter deposit be paid when the animal is adopted. The deposit is refunded when the adopters provide proof of the animal's spaying or neutering. Krill said one of the overall goals is to have spaying and neutering done in-house. But there's no surgical suite at the shelter yet, and it may be some time before they can set one up. Espey said a smaller clinic will be set up soon, to handle emergency treatment and medical evaluations.

"One of the major problems we identified over the years with the existing service we're providing," Krill said, "is when animals come in, they need to be medically evaluated, very quickly. We have not had that."

If those animals have injuries or, for example, have been hit by a car or otherwise injured, Espey will be able to give them emergency treatment and get them stabilized.

Although having medical evaluations done won't necessarily prevent viruses such as parvovirus or feline distemper from occurring, since animals can be contagious without displaying symptoms, Espey said they may reduce the potential spread of an outbreak.

"A lot of these are strays, and we don't know their medical history," Espey said, "but we'll pick up a sick animal symptom sooner. We're not going to prevent them from walking through the door, but I think we'll be able to prevent it from spreading."

The treatment, Espey said, will be only for animals coming into the shelter. It's not designed to be in competition with local veterinary offices, she said, and part of her job will be helping people understand the need for a regular veterinarian.

As for the spaying and neutering, she said, that's down the road, and part of the five-year plan being developed for the shelter.

"That's where we're headed, it's not going to happen right now," Espey said.

Espey said she was interested in the job because it allows her to treat animals who may otherwise go untreated. Prior to her four-plus years at the SPCA, she said, she worked in a private practice in Eagle River. More recently, she said, she helped at the Anchorage Animal Control office and got familiar with some of the challenges of public shelters there.

"It seemed like a good challenge," Espey said of her decision to take the job. "Of all the animals that really need help, aren't these the ones that need help the most?"

Espey said she has a houseful of pets -- a dog, three cats, four aquatic turtles, two box turtles, a toad and a tank full of fish and frogs.