Posted in Latest Pinellas County Veterinary News, SPCA Tampa Bay News

As Fall approaches, SPCA Tampa Bay has a number of events planned to help us continue to provide care. Please check out our website for further information (www.spcatampabay.org) on all these and more activities:

–Sept. 8-11 (Fri-Mon), we are hosting Pet Portraits by Michael, an opportunity for clients to get professional photos with their pets, just in time for holiday cards

–Sept. 13, Wednesday from 7pm to 10pm: Trailer Trash Bingo, at Hamburget Mary’s St. Pete

–Sept. 18, Saturday from 11am to 1pm: Cats Film Festival, at Florida Botanical Gardens (a chance to gather in groups to watch silly cat videos)

–Oct. 7, Saturday from 8:30am to 12pm: PetWalk at Vinoy Park

After a 3 month gap, we are in the final stages of hiring a full time veterinarian for our shelter facility in Largo. We look forward to making an announcement once she’s on board, and engaging her in PCVMA membership, and thank the membership for their support while we navigated being short handed.

In St. Pete, we continue to grow and learn as we finish out 10 months of operations with our hospital, and high volume s/n service. In our hospital, we’ve logged over 10,000 patient visits so far, and have completed over 1800 s/n surgeries, since opening last October. We recently moved to 4 full time veterinarians in our general practice, as well as 1 full time veterinarian in the s/n service, as well as the necessary support staff. As a reminder to our colleagues, our pricing remains competitive with our local neighbors (we do not advertise ourselves as “low cost”) so that our proceeds can help out the homeless animals in our Largo shelter. Additionally, we do work on an appointment basis, but try to work fit-ins within reason. We do have some financial options for clients that may not qualify for typical services like Care Credit, but clients must meet certain qualifications. To better ensure a smooth communication process from those of you that refer to us, please remember these key items, then:

–Our pricing is competitive, not “low cost”

–We work on an appointment basis, but can accommodate some fit-ins

–For those needing financial assistance, we use an algorithm based on income levels of the client–not everyone necessarily qualifies for discount options

If you have any questions about things going on either at the shelter in Largo, or our hospital in St. Pete, don’t hesitate to ask.

Rizal Lopez, DVM
Senior Director/Veterinary Services

SPCA of Tampa Bay
9099 130th Avenue North | Largo, FL 33773
727.499.0370 fax: 727.499.0368

SPCATampaBay.org