The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Michael Hinman

Before ‘Edward Scissorhands,’ there was ‘Satan’s Children’

By

Throughout the rich history of the Lutz area, one thing that’s never talked about is the Great Oatmeal Famine of 1974.

Anyone looking to restock their Quaker Oats back then found the shelves mysteriously empty. Was it a strike? A product recall? A sudden desire to change breakfast food?

The quicksand pit for ‘Satan’s Children’ was created on a farm in Lutz. It was only 3 feet deep, and was made entirely of oatmeal. (Courtesy of Something Weird)
The quicksand pit for ‘Satan’s Children’ was created on a farm in Lutz. It was only 3 feet deep, and was made entirely of oatmeal. (Courtesy of Something Weird)

Nope, it was a small independent horror movie filming in Lutz at the time called “Satan’s Children.” And the special effects wizard behind the film, John Mocsary, needed 50 cases of it so that he could create something Lutz has never had before — quicksand.

“We bought up every case of oatmeal we could find in the North Tampa area,” Mocsary said. “And we used every bit of it. I had to make a three-foot pit, and it had to look real.”

Except once the oatmeal was mixed and actors started falling into it, Mocsary realized there were two things he hadn’t anticipated. First, the nearby cattle on the ranch they were using were quite interested in eating the oatmeal up. And second: The Laws of Newton.

“We had a buoyancy problem,” he said. “So what we had to do was put cinder blocks in, so that after people went into it, they would hold on to the blocks to keep them under.”

The magic of movies, taking place right in Lutz, nearly two decades before Tim Burton would bring Johnny Depp and “Edward Scissorhands” to the area. And while the R-rated “Satan’s Children” was never a box office success, it’s being remembered Nov. 15 when many of the former cast and crew, like Mocsary, get together at Tampa Theatre for a special screening.

The event was Andy Lalino’s idea. He wasn’t part of the movie, but he’s a major horror fan, and discovered “Satan’s Children” when it was released as a home video.

“I first got to see it back in 2006, and even then, I noticed that it was made in Tampa,” said Lalino, a producer at WUSF-TV in Tampa, and horror aficionado. “That piqued my interest, since I’m from the Tampa Bay area, and I toyed around with some ideas on what to do about that.”

The event next Saturday will celebrate the early days of film in the area, and feature actors like Stephen White, Rosemary Orlando and John Edwards, who all appeared in the film, while many of them were students at the University of South Florida. None are household names today, but their inclusion in what they hope could become a local cult classic will put them in the spotlight they never got in 1974.

“The film was actually released in 1975, theoretically,” Lalino said. “I talked to a lot of people, and they can’t ever remember seeing ads for it in the newspaper, which was common back then. It might have hit a few theaters in New York City and maybe some other parts of the country, but it was nothing like what happened with ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre.’”

That film was released in 1974, and was a low-budget horror as well that found its way into the mainstream consciousness. It went on to gross $30 million at the box office, which adjusted for inflation, would be $140 million today.

Lalino suspects “Satan’s Children” cost $100,000 to make — a third of the cost of “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” but those who invested money were probably lucky to get any return on their investment, let alone their investment itself.

Joe Wiezycki was a producer at WTVT-Channel 13 for three decades beginning in the 1960s. He and others from WTVT worked on the project in secret — they didn’t want their bosses to know they were doing it — and it took months to complete all the work with mostly nights and weekends.

Wiezycki met Mocsary when the latter was working as a makeup artist — in a funeral home.

“He had called me up and said, ‘I understand you do makeup,’” Mocsary said. “He said, ‘I got this project we’re working on, would you be interested in helping us out?’”

That project was a film called “Willy’s Gone,” and had a limited release in 1968, making no money. But that didn’t stop Wiezycki, who quickly started work on his next project that would end up surviving 40 years — “Satan’s Children.”

“It was a fun job to work on,” Mocsary said. “Working with Joe was always a good thing, and he was a great guy. I’m sorry he’s not with us.”

Wiezycki died in 1994.

But many of the cast and crew still remain, and Lalino hopes to help new audiences discover a film old audiences never did. But it was made as a B-movie, usually a film packaged with a wide-release, and society was much different then. There are major segments of the film that some may regard today as outright homophobic and sexist.

“This screening, I think, will elevate the status of this film,” Lalino said. “It will bring attention to it, not just for new fans, but for those who might have grown up in the ‘70s and ‘80s and never heard of the picture.

“I look forward to being a part of it.”

If you go
WHAT: ‘Satan’s Children’ 40th Anniversary Screening and Reunion
WHEN: Nov. 15, 10 p.m.
WHERE: Tampa Theatre, 711 N. Franklin St.
COST: $11
INFO: TampaTheatre.org

Published November 5, 2014

See this story in print: Click Here

Animal services gives Valpak a try

By

The little blue envelopes coming to homes around the Thanksgiving holiday will have a little something extra: Appeals from Pasco County Animal Services to adopt a pet.

Pasco County commissioners will consider Wednesday an agreement between the animal shelter and Valpak Direct Marketing Systems in Largo that will distribute 100,000 customized coupons in two drops around the region between Nov. 17 and Dec. 8.

The coupons will feature reduction in adoption rates from $70 to $20 for dogs, and $40 to $5 for cats. That would include spay and neuter, microchip and vaccines, valued between $425 and $470, according to documents filed with the county.

The overall distribution includes two different test markets. One will be mailed in a Valpak envelope, while the second batch will not be included with the company’s distinctive mailer. The company will track the success of each mailer using a unique promo code that will be featured on each run. It would be specific to dogs and cats, and whether the coupon was placed inside a Valpak envelope or not.

The program is free to the county during its trial run, said animal services director Michael Shumate.

Consideration of the program is part of the county commission’s Nov. 5 meeting, set for 10 a.m., at the Historic Pasco County Courthouse, 37918 Meridian Ave., in Dade City.

Incumbents keeping seats on Hillsborough commission

By

Charlie Crist may not have been a winner in Florida, but another unrelated Crist will stay in elected office in Hillsborough County as Victor Crist won re-election to the county commission.

Crist defeated Democrat Elizabeth Belcher 56 percent to 44 percent to get another four years in Hillsborough. However, the race was a lot closer for Crist’s colleague, Al Higginbotham, who defeated Democrat Patricia Kemp 50.5 percent to 40.6 percent. Higginbotham had 3,000 more votes than his competitor, compared to a 12,000-vote win by Crist.

Higginbotham was just beyond the threshold that would’ve triggered a machine recount of votes, despite winning with less than a 1 percent margin of victory.

Joining the commission is Republican Stacy White, who easily beat a write-in candidate, to take Higginbotham’s old seat. Higginbotham will take over the county-wide seat formerly held by Mark Sharpe.

For state Rep. Shawn Harrison will return to Tallahassee after defeating Democratic incumbent Mark Danish 53 percent to 47 percent. James Grant will keep his House seat, however, beating fellow Republican Miriam Steinberg 61-39.

Hillsborough followed the rest of the state by overwhelmingly passing a state constitutional amendment that would help Florida conserve more environmentally sensitive land. However, the county also defeated medical marijuana and a change in how the governor can appoint state supreme court judges.

Hillsborough also was one of the few counties in Central Florida to support Charlie Crist for governor. Crist captured 48 percent of the vote in the county, while Rick Scott earned 46 percent.

In the congressional race, Dennis Ross won re-election against his Democratic challenger, former television personality Alan Cohn.

Burgess heads to Tallahassee, Moore wins commission race

By

Mike Moore raised a lot of money in his quest to become a member of the Pasco County Commission, but even he knew with Pasco’s history of upsets in commission races, there never was a guarantee.

Yet, Moore’s fundraising and campaign both paid off, as he won the last open seat on the commission, and will keep retiring Pat Mulieri’s seat in Republican hands.

With 97 percent of precincts reporting in Pasco just after 8:30 p.m., Moore had a 59-41 lead — or more than 26,600 votes — separating him from Democratic challenger Erika Remsberg. Moore will now join Mike Wells Jr. as new members of the commission, after Wells ousted Henry Wilson Jr. in the open primary last August.

Moore earned endorsements from various government and civic leaders, but could not pick them up from media outlets that offered them, or even the outgoing Mulieri, who chose to cross party lines and endorse Remsberg instead.

The state House seat representing the eastern and central parts of Pasco also stays in Republican hands after former Zephyrhills mayor Danny Burgess defeated retired teacher Beverly Ledbetter 60-40. That race was to decide who would replace House Speaker Will Weatherford, who is stepping down because of term limits.

Like Moore, Burgess also dominated in fundraising, raising more than $160,000, compared to $38,600 from Ledbetter. However, both candidates took a little heat in the days leading up to the election for not spending more of those dollars within their district. Burgess also took some hits for accepting money from Duke Energy, which has received negative attention in the last few months over charging customers for two nuclear power plants that no longer exist.

The tight race for governor proved to be especially tight in Pasco. Although Charlie Crist maintained a slim lead through early votes and absentees, Rick Scott flipped that with Election Day voting, and ended up winning Pasco by a very small, 47-45 advantage. That was the difference of 2,300 votes.

Adrian Wyllie, the Libertarian in the race, garnered 7 percent of the votes.

Pasco County’s elections supervisor Brian Corley said there were still some long lines waiting at precincts even after 7 p.m. when polls were supposed to close, including at Rasmussen College on State Road 54 and Sunlake Boulevard.

If the rest of the state follows Pasco’s leads, then the only state constitutional amendment expected to pass is Amendment 1, which would allow Florida to enhance its conservation land holdings. The medical marijuana amendment did get 58 percent support in Pasco, but it needs 60 percent to pass.

Moore, Remsberg spending money outside Pasco

By

Bringing money into the county is something politician after politician has brought to campaigns and local government for years, and the Pasco County Commission race between Mike Moore and Erika Remsberg has been no different.

In fact, both have ideas on how to attract more jobs and higher wages to the area, as well as bring in an influx of money to help businesses grow and prosper. Yet, when it comes to their own spending habits, some might scratch their heads on how much they are willing to spend with local businesses and local people.

Since the end of February, the District 2 race to replace the retiring Pat Mulieri has raised $135,000 between the two candidates, with nearly $169,000 already spent in that period. Yet, Moore only devoted 32 percent of his total expenditures inside Pasco, while Remsberg wasn’t much better at 39 percent.

Those numbers got far worse for Moore after his primary victory over Ken Littlefield and Bob Robertson, where of the $53,500 he spent, only about $13,000 — or 19 percent — went to help Pasco businesses. Remsberg stayed consistent after the primary, $2,240, or 37 percent, locally.

Since the end of February, both candidates have sent $115,000 out of the county. That’s some $30,000 more than they want taxpayers to give them each year in salary for sitting on the dais, and enough to fund five full-time and one part-time jobs that pay $10 an hour.

“First, I was disappointed my local spending amount was so low,” Remsberg told The Laker/Lutz News in an email. “Must be because the Tarpon union printer I used was just over the border. Secondly, I think reporting the amounts donated is more important than the percentages. Given the vast difference in amounts donated to our contributions, I think percentages do not paint the picture as well as the dollar amount does.”

An early Monday morning request to Moore for comment was still pending return.

Twice in October, Moore had a week where he spent more than $20,000, with less than 6 percent of that going to local businesses. Instead, during those two periods, he spent $37,323 with Majority Strategies in Ponte Vedra for advertising, and nearly $3,000 with Allegra Marketing in Tampa for printing.

Even food preparation was not something Moore could find locally, spending $2,224 for food at a fundraiser, supplied by Catering by the Family in Tampa.

Remsberg also had a bad week in October where nearly 95 percent of her spending was done outside of Pasco. It was there she spent nearly $1,100 with Image Media in Tarpon Springs for printing. Before that, she had taken some of her printing work to Tampa, where she spent more than $925 with Gunn Printing in July.

Since the end of February, Moore has raised more than $123,000 in cash, far more than the $11,600 Remsberg raised over the same time. However, more than half of Moore’s donations have come from people and groups associated with real estate, development and construction.

To date, those groups have given Moore nearly $63,000 in contributions, with more than $40,000 of it coming since the primary. At the same time, Remsberg has picked up just $350 from contributors like that, all of it coming from an operating engineer union. That accounted for 3 percent of her total contributions.

“A campaign mostly financed with money from developers creates a conflict of interest when the candidate will be ruling on issues affecting those developers,” Remsberg said. “Pasco County loses significant revenues on incentives for development causing Pasco County residents to pick up the bill. We do not have enough money to fix our roads in Pasco, but we can spend money helping developers pay for the roads they are building for their own projects.”

Voters will have a chance to decide between Moore and Remsberg on Nov. 4.

Pasco gets 25 percent head start into Nov. 4

By

Early voting in various places around Pasco County ended Saturday, and although there’s still room to receive more mail-in ballots on Monday, county elections supervisor Brian Corley has to be happy with the turnout so far.

More than 77,000 ballots have been cast through Sunday, representing 25 percent of the more than 300,000 registered voters eligible to head to the polls for the Nov. 4 mid-term elections. While that is a strong early number, Corley now is wondering whether that will be enough — after adding this coming Tuesday’s numbers — to beat the 47 percent turnout of 2010.

Republicans made up 44 percent of early voters, with a little more than 34,200 ballots cast there. Democrats accounted for 35 percent with nearly 27,200 ballots. Third parties and independents made up the rest with 20 percent, or a little more than 15,500 ballots.

That’s showing a stronger turnout for Republicans so far, which typically makes up about 38 percent of Pasco’s registered voters. Democrats have slightly stronger numbers as well, since they represent just 33 percent of registered voters, while independents and members of other parties have not come out as much as they could, typically making up 28 percent of registered voters.

Candidates, at least in the gubernatorial race, feel it’s going to be independents that are a deciding factor in a race that remains a statistical dead heat going into the final days of the race.

The best turnout was from voters who cast their ballots normally at First Assembly of God, located on State Road 54 in Zephyrhills, where 985 ballots received makes up 38 percent of their total voter registry. The more than 2,500 registered voters there, according to the elections supervisor office, are 40 percent Republican, 35 percent Democrat, and 25 percent everyone else.

The lowest turnout so far is from Darby Community Church on Bellamy Brothers Boulevard in Dade City, where 90 ballots were cast, or just under 12 percent. The 762 voters there are 42 percent Republican, 34 percent Democrat and 24 percent independents and members of third parties.

More than 4,600 voters turned up for the final day of early voting, slightly above the average of a little more than 4,000 ballots a day cast in early voting. Unlike other counties in Florida, Pasco did not offer Sunday voting in the final days leading up to Nov. 4, although polls were open the Sunday before.

Early voting did not catch up to mail-in ballots, which accounted for 58 percent of the total turnout so far.

Everyone who hasn’t voted will get that chance on Tuesday, when polls open at 7 a.m.

Buy local? Not state House political candidates

By

They have both championed jobs and money to flow into their district in Pasco County, but are two politicians seeking a place in Tallahassee practicing what they’re preaching?

Nearly $200,000 was raised from both sides in the campaign to replace Will Weatherford in the Florida House. But in the end, the district both Danny Burgess and Beverly Ledbetter hoped to represent saw very little of that money come back to them.

Since the primary, both Burgess and Ledbetter — the Republican and Democrat, respectively — pulled in $93,200 in cash donations for state House District 38. Yet, just $18,260 of that — less than 20 percent — was returned for purchases by the campaigns within Pasco County.

Of the two, Ledbetter had the worst record since the primary of buying local, spending less than $1,800 of the more than $28,000 in checks her campaign has issued. She has paid nearly $15,600 to Sonic Print in Tampa in the last reporting cycle alone for what were described as mailers. Another $440 went to a company called Parkway Strategies in Tallahassee for what the campaign said was “strategic communications.”

In total, Ledbetter spent $14,000 in the final weeks of her campaign, but only $100 — to volunteers for using gas in their cars — was paid out locally.

Burgess wasn’t much better. In the last two weeks of his campaign, the former Zephyrhills mayor spent nearly $61,500. But only $4,000 of that — less than 7 percent — ended up in local hands. Instead, nearly $47,000 was paid to a Jensen Beach company called David Millner Group for advertising, with another $10,000 going to a company called Strategic Image Management, which uses the same address as David Millner.

In fact, Burgess spent just under $81,500 with the Jensen Beach company, or 63 percent of his total expenditures. That’s enough to create four full-time jobs at $10 an hour, but spent in Martin County just north of the Fort Lauderdale area, and not locally.

Ledbetter spent $22,209 with Sonic Print in Tampa, or 69 percent of her total expenditures. That would’ve created one full-time job at $10 an hour, money provided for Tampa’s Carrollwood area.

Overall, since last November, Burgess has spent 27 percent of his money locally, while Ledbetter managed just a little more than 9 percent. Burgess turned away from local spending after the primary season, however, allowing his local expenditures to drop to 14 percent, while Ledbetter was at 6 percent.

“Our campaign bought local services when available, such as some printing supplies and materials,” Ledbetter told The Laker/Lutz News in an email. “I used a local Dade City printer for some work, and a local company for the T-shirts. Unfortunately, East Pasco — including Wesley Chapel — does not have any commercial mailing operation that I was aware of, and that comprises the bulk of my out-of-district purchases.”

As a grassroots campaign staffed by volunteers, Ledbetter said she hired very few professional services.

“Your report points out a need for the development of these types of companies in eastern Pasco,” Ledbetter added.

Burgess did not respond to a weekend request for comment.

Both candidates also relied heavily on political action committees to fund their campaigns since the end of August, with Ledbetter being more dependent on that money than Burgess.

Burgess has collected $26,700 in PAC money since the primaries, $16,400 for Ledbetter. However, that represented just 37 percent of his contributions during that time period, while for Ledbetter, PAC money made up 81 percent of her donations.

But even then, local money was missing. Of the more than $73,000 Burgess raised since the primary, only 17 percent came from local sources. Ledbetter picked up $20,111 in contributions during the same time, with 29 percent local.

Overall, Burgess raised $160,000 in this campaign over the past year, compared to $38,500 from Ledbetter. Of his total, Burgess saw 28 percent of that money being local, and 33 percent of it from PACs. Ledbetter had 44 percent of her money from local sources, while 47 percent of it was from PACs.

Voters will choose between the two for the state House race Nov. 4.

BIGGEST EXPENDITURES

DANNY BURGESS
David Millner Group/Strategic Image Management, Jensen Beach — $81,418
Capitol Consulting, Odessa — $8,750
OAI, Tampa — $2,204

BEVERLY LEDBETTER
Sonic Print, Tampa — $22,209
Image Media, Tarpon Springs — $4,735
Tampa Type/Print, Dade City — $1,145

Strong early voter turnout so far in Pasco

By

Brian Corley likes what he’s seeing for the 2014 election so far.

As of 4 p.m. Thursday, more than 21 percent of registered voters in Pasco County have dropped a ballot in the voting box, and there’s still two full days of early voting left.

“We’re on pace to beat 2010, and we’re doing that with less than a 10-minute wait” at early voting locations around the county, said Corley, Pasco’s supervisor of elections. “It’s very rewarding, and shows that we are getting things done to get out the vote.”

Nearly 65,300 votes have been cast in Pasco so far, with nearly a third from early voting, and the rest from mail ballots. In a race that includes a tight battle for governor between Charlie Crist and Rick Scott, as well as a high-profile county commission race, more than 29,000 — or 45 percent — of the votes are being cast by Republicans, while more than 23,000, or 35 percent, are coming from Democrats. Another 20 percent, representing just over 13,000 voters, are coming from those with other or no party affiliations.

Republicans continue to turn out in better numbers than Democrats in the race, especially with the GOP only accounting for 38 percent of Pasco’s more than 305,000 voters. Democrats make up 33 percent of the total electorate, while everyone else is at 28 percent.

The voting precinct with the best numbers so far is First Assembly of God in Zephyrhills where 33 percent, or 850 people, have cast an early ballot so far. Political breakdowns there match pretty much the rest of the county with 40 percent Republicans, and 35 percent Democrats.

The lowest numbers so far, however, are coming from Crystal Springs Community Hall just outside of Zephyrhills, where just 86 votes — or less than 10 percent — have been cast. That precinct has nearly 900 total registered voters where Democrats just slightly outnumber Republicans.

Early voting continues through Saturday, with each location open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Voters also are choosing whether to support three amendments to the state constitution, ranging from land conservation to how state supreme court justices are appointed to medical marijuana.

• East Pasco Government Center, 14236 Sixth St., Dade City
• Land O’ Lakes Library, 2818 Collier Parkway, Land O’ Lakes
• New River Branch Library, 34043 State Road 54, Zephyrhills
• The Grove at Wesley Chapel, 6013 Wesley Grove Blvd., Wesley Chapel
• Hudson Library, 8012 Library Road, Hudson
• New Port Richey Elections Office, 8731 Citizens Drive, New Port Richey
• Regency Park Library, 9701 Little Road, New Port Richey
• South Holiday Library, 4649 Mile Stretch Drive, Holiday

Growth at The Grove may depend on traffic light

By

Hiring has begun at a Chuck E. Cheese’s store now under construction at The Grove at Wesley Chapel, a shopping center opened at the height of the recent housing boom, which is now growing again.

How much the shopping center bordering Interstate 75 will expand, however, depends on the cooperation developers get from Pasco County officials.

Future growth at The Grove at Wesley Chapel depends on help from the county to keep traffic moving in and out of the shopping complex off County Road 54. (Fred Bellet/Photo)
Future growth at The Grove at Wesley Chapel depends on help from the county to keep traffic moving in and out of the shopping complex off County Road 54. (Fred Bellet/Photo)

“The challenge we have with all the major future development out of The Grove centers around the fact that the project lacks a traffic signal at the main entrance,” Jim Mazzarelli, managing director at Genesis Real Estate Advisers — the company working with The Grove developers — told members of the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce last week. “As our engineers say, we don’t have an ingress problem, we have an egress problem. You can get in, but you can’t get out.”

The Grove has two entrances off County Road 54, using Oakley Boulevard less than 1,000 feet from the I-75 interchange, and Gateway Boulevard, located another 800 feet or so from there, where customers can find a traffic signal.

Getting to Gateway is not easy, however. Shoppers have to leave The Grove, turn onto Dayflower Boulevard, and then turn onto Gateway on the other side of an Econo Lodge. Anyone wanting to drive just straight out on Oakley either has to make a right turn, or journey across three lanes of traffic to make a U-turn at Gateway.

“It’s a really awkward work-around,” Mazzarelli said. “It might work for everyone who is there now, but it doesn’t work for the big anchors who are going to come in and invest millions in a store. That’s a hurdle we’ve been working to overcome for the better part of three-and-a-half years. We’re getting there, but it’s a long road.”

One 17-acre piece of land on the southern end of The Grove property, for example, is set up for a large box store, like a Lowe’s or Target, Mazzarelli said. The land has been vacant since The Grove opened in 2007, but developers are in negotiations with a large department store “with a well-known name.”

Such a deal, however, is contingent with adding a traffic light for the Oakley connection to County Road 54. The Grove developers already have spent more than $250,000 in studies and other work to get that light in, but it still hasn’t happened.

“We are not taking this lightly by any means,” Mazzarelli said. “It is a critical element to the center as it stands today, especially right now when it’s only half built-out.”

Although 54 is now a county road, there are still Florida Department of Transportation restrictions in place since it controls the traffic lights for vehicles looking to access I-75. Generally DOT wants 1,260 feet separating traffic lights, and by adding one on Oakley, that would put three traffic lights in a stretch of road totaling a little more than 2,000 feet.

“If you put in another stop light, that and the other two stop lights already there creates the possibility of traffic backing up into the off-ramps of the interstate,” county spokesman Douglas Tobin said. “We are reviewing that, but one solution might be if you put a stop light in there, we have an agreement that, in the future, if it backs up, we’d be able to remove it.”

Other hindrances to expansion are restrictions The Grove had to negotiate through when it signed leases with some of its big tenants, like Best Buy, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Old Navy. That was what stopped the Pasco County Tax Collector’s office from opening a new location at the center, and also kept the Pepin Academy charter school from considering some space.

“We had an idea to create this nice little educational court that could’ve been sealed off” from the rest of the complex, Mazzarelli said. “We went to the anchors and did a great deal of negotiating with them, but we couldn’t get the anchors to sign off on it.”

However, those restrictions could change in the near future. Many of the anchor leases are up for renewal, and since some stores would like the chance to upgrade their facilities, that gives The Grove a little bargaining power at the negotiation table.

“In addition to giving the anchors some money so they can refurbish their stores, we are getting a lot of these restrictions relaxed,” Mazzarelli said. “That will have obviously long-term benefits for the center, because the fewer restrictions we have, the more flexibility we will have, and the most success we’ll have in this space.”

Published October 29, 2014

See this story in print: Click Here

Pet shelter changing way animal owners think

By

Out of sight, out of mind.

Pat Mulieri wasn’t part of the decision that built Pasco County’s animal shelter well off the beaten path inside the Lake Patience community and behind Oakstead Elementary School, but there are times she wishes she was.

Adult cats have some of the hardest times being adopted, since kittens are in such high demand. Last year, more than 800 cats came to the shelter, but less than 75 percent found homes. (Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)
Adult cats have some of the hardest times being adopted, since kittens are in such high demand. Last year, more than 800 cats came to the shelter, but less than 75 percent found homes. (Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)

The shelter is 2 miles off Land O’ Lakes Boulevard, requiring a little bit of navigation along Lake Patience Road to Dogpatch Lane. Locals know exactly where to go when they need to deliver a pet, or adopt one, but the thousands of new residents calling Pasco home each year are surprised to learn Pasco even has such a facility, and that sometimes makes it difficult to get the word out.

“I came to this shelter years ago when I had lost a pet,” Mulieri, a 20-year member of the county commission, said. “My husband didn’t lock the screen door for our two little dogs. One came back, and the other didn’t.”

What Mulieri found at the shelter, however, was something she was not ready for.

“They let me in with the place closed, when they only had one building out here, and that’s when I saw the dead cats,” Mulieri said. “They had killed so many cats a day, and I didn’t even realize it. I couldn’t come back.”

It would actually take years for Mulieri to return, but when she did, she was there to stay. Now Mulieri is a common face around the halls of the shelter’s administrative offices, and has been a major proponent in helping to build the shelter’s profile, and find homes for hundreds of pets each month.

Promoting the shelter and finding ways to attract adopting families has fallen on the shoulders of Andrea Ciesluk, the assistant education coordinator at Pasco County Animal Services. Ciesluk joined the staff there earlier this year, and almost immediately, the shelter was getting noticed.

“We want to advertise and get the word out so that people know who we are and where we are,” she said. “That’s not as easy as it sounds.”

Ciesluk is doing it using a much different approach than what the shelter has done in the past. While animal services have typically worked with newspapers, television and radio to spread the word about the shelter’s needs, Ciesluk is reaching deep into the business community to find corporate partners willing to lend a hand — even if it’s simply through a new way of promoting events and specials the shelter has on a monthly basis.

“What we are doing is getting new businesses and local businesses to sponsor an animal,” she said. “In return, every time we post that animal’s picture, people will see their involvement too.”

Those businesses also have helped to reduce adoption fees for many families who might want to take a dog or cat home, but balk when they find out how much they have to pay in order to do it. Business donations, Mulieri said, have helped reduce those costs to as low as $20.

“That’s neutering and spaying, immunization and microchipping all in the same package,” Mulieri said. “That’s the best buy in town, and it’s the only way we’re going to cut down on euthanizing.”

In 2011, less than 40 percent of the animals boarded at the shelter left it alive. But in 2012, the live release rate grew to 55 percent, and last year, had reached 81 percent.

The shelter’s goal is to find homes for 90 percent of the dogs and cats brought through its doors, Mulieri said, but it’s going to require more work than just adoption specials.

“You’ll never be able to adopt them all out, and you’ll never be able to cut down on the pet population until you change people’s ideas,” Mulieri said.

Despite animal overpopulation, many families with pets shy away from spaying or neutering, feeling their pets need to have litters. A typical cat can have up to six kittens in a litter and can have three litters a year. That means one cat couple and their offspring, according to one animal group, can result in 420,000 more cats in seven years.

And it’s not easy to find them homes. Last year, the Pasco shelter put down 27 percent of the cats it received.

New shelter manager Mike Shumate realized that mindset needed to change. Before he arrived, qualifying families who fixed their cat or dog could send their bill to the county, and be reimbursed up to $40.

“That rarely covered those costs,” Mulieri said. “People couldn’t afford to do it, so they wouldn’t do it. And the number of animals coming into the shelter was just getting out of control.”

Instead, the goal is to partner with local veterinarians to offer discounts that would make such procedures affordable. On top of that, the shelter has partnered with Spay Pasco with the Trap Neuter Return program that allows for the trapping of feral cats that are then fixed for $10, and returned to their habitat.

“We need to do this,” Ciesluk said. “And we’re going to keep working to expand it even more.”

For more programs and specials at the shelter, visit PascoCountyFl.net/PAS.

Published October 29, 2014

See this story in print: Click Here