Rescuers fear fee will cost pet lives

PAYSON — Dexter was in pain.

The 2 1/2-year-old golden retriever was suffering from bladder stones, and one of them had clogged his urethra. His bladder had expanded to the size of a watermelon, and no amount of leg lifting near trees or fire hydrants could make the pain go away.

Dexter was helpless.

The pain relief he undoubtedly craved was going to require surgery, and that meant money — possibly a lot of money.

His owner's response: "Well, I guess he's going to die in my back yard."

Dexter, instead, was rescued.

At the suggestion of the veterinarian, Dexter's owner gave him to someone willing to pay for the medical attention he required, nurse him back to health and find him a new home.

That person was Terri Smith, a longtime volunteer with Companion Golden Retriever Rescue, a nonprofit group dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of homeless golden retrievers in the Intermountain West.

"We love those dogs, we know those dogs, we understand their health issues and their behavior issues," said Smith, who lives in Payson.

In 2005, Companion Golden Retriever Rescue saved 175 dogs in Utah — including 20 to 25 that were scheduled to be euthanized at the Utah County Animal Shelter, she said.

And that makes Smith nervous for 2006. The Spanish Fork shelter closed its doors at the end of the year and reopened Jan. 2 with a new name, mostly new personnel and a new method of operation.

The South Utah Valley Animal Shelter Special Service District occupies the same facility at 582 W. 300 North in Spanish Fork, but it's no longer operated by the county. Provo and cities to the south now make quarterly payments to the special service district to handle all of their animal sheltering needs. Utah County also participates to cover the unincorporated south county area.

All of the district's operating costs must be covered by those payments and revenue from pet adoptions, licensing and other fees.

One of those fees affects Smith and other rescue volunteers who previously were able to take animals from the shelter free of charge to save them from euthanization.

Those groups now must pay a fee — $10 for dogs and $5 for cats. That may not seem like much, Smith said, but it makes covering rescue costs — already a difficult challenge for nonprofit groups — that much harder.