Veterinary clinic worried fund may dry up

The Calhan Veterinary Clinic is worried the economy will take a bite out of the grant money it uses to provide low-cost animal sterilizations.

Veterinarian Robert DeAngelo's clinic received $20,000 in 2008 from the Colorado Pet Overpopulation Fund, which it uses to provide half-price spay and neuter operations for dogs and cats.

That amount made the clinic in this small town east of Colorado Springs one of the top five recipients of the $225,000 distributed from the CPOF last year to underserved areas.

But the fund, around since 2001, relies on the kindness of strangers, as most of its funding comes through a check-off campaign on state tax returns - one of the menu of causes that invite taxpayers to donate a few bucks while they're paying the tax man. Will people be feeling generous this year?

"We really don't quite know how to read the tea leaves," said CPOF treasurer David Gies, who is also executive director of the Animal Assistance Foundation. "Times are quite volatile right now and it's kind of anybody's guess on what impact that will have on charitable giving through the state check-off.

"We're encouraged - in past times the public has contributed at the same levels or even higher when there's a difficult economy. So we hope for the same to happen in this situation that we're all experiencing for the first time."

DeAngelo hopes that guarded optimism is warranted. He said Calhan suffers because many people dump their unwanted animals in the country, and the economy makes low-cost sterilizations even more important. DeAngelo said he believes the fund has decreased euthanizations in Colorado - still, more than 44,000 were killed in 2007 - and may also decrease the risks of disease from animal overpopulation.

For more information, go to savecoloradopets.org.

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Call Reed at 636-0226.