Athens City Council members voted this week to give Dr. Robert Pitman $50,000 more per year to provide housing, care, shelter, feeding, adoptions of animals and shelter staffing at the Athens-Limestone County Animal Shelter in Athens.

Pitman has contracts totaling $421,500 with both the city and Limestone County to cover his costs for veterinary care as well as the cost of operating the shelter.

The three-year contract approved by council members Monday increased the amount allotted to Pitman from $80,000 per year to $105,000, a $20,000 annual increase, said City Clerk Annette Barnes Threet. Council members approved the contract 5-0 with no discussion.

Pitman said his contract with the county pays $316,500 a year. In 2015, county commissioners renewed Pitman’s three-year contract with the county, which included an increase of $90,600 per year, according to figures provided by County Administrator Pam Ball.

 

What it covers

 

Pitman’s contract covers not only the emergency and routine veterinary services he provides but also the cost of operating the shelter, which is a nonprofit organization employing a director and nine full-time and part-time employees.

Pitman said the contract covers everything, including housing, caring for the animals, shelter, feeding, adoptions, emergency treatment, euthanasia, disposal services and other services. He said he requested an increase because “everything has gone up,” including utilities, labor, food and other necessities.

Employees feed the animals and clean the pens seven days a week, including holidays, he said.

“We try to do the best we can with what we get,” Pitman told The News Courier Wednesday. “It seems like a lot of money but Huntsville receives $1.2 million a year and takes in 7,000 to 8,000 animals a year and we take in 3,000 to 3,500 and we get about $400,000.”

He said Decatur’s shelter budget was $696,000 last he knew.

 

Euthanasia decreasing

 

The shelter euthanizes 1,600 to 1,700 of the 3,000 to 3,500 animals taken in each year, Pitman said. Although the number is unfortunate, it has gone down over the years.

“When I first took over, I bought 136 bottles of euthanasia solution a year,” he said. “This year I bought 18.”

He praised shelter director Priscilla Blenkinsopp for her work in finding homes for unwanted animals.

“Our director has developed a network — between rescues and transports and fosters — of over 60 sources that place animals, we get a lot of them out of here. We have programs in place that have readily reduced the number of turn-ins over the past couple of years.”

The adoption fee is $110 for dogs and cats. That includes having the animal fixed, as well as all shots and medical records. Animal rescue organizations typically charge the city-county shelter a $90 “pull fee,” according to the shelter’s website. But, the rescues save the lives of unwanted animals.

Pitman said it is good for residents to know the cost of sheltering animals.

“People need to know where their money is going, and I’d like to get the number of animals turned in each year down to 2,000 a year,” he said.