LARGO, Fla. (July 12, 2019) – Residents of north Pinellas County now have a new resource for helping pets in their community. SPCA Tampa Bay’s Animal Resource Center is open in Palm Harbor to assist people who can help animals in our community.
The Animal Resource Center in Palm Harbor is a convenient location for people who have found stray or lost pets and sick or injured wildlife. It’s also a nonjudgmental resource for people who need to surrender their pets or receive help caring for their pets.
“Often, time and transportation kept animals from receive the care that they need,” said Martha Boden, CEO of SPCA Tampa Bay. “The Animal Resource Center is a convenient, helpful place for northern Pinellas County residents to receive assistance with animals.”
The number of calls to SPCA Tampa Bay about sick or injured wildlife has continued to grow over the past few years. Nearly one in six of these calls come from residents and law enforcement in the Palm Harbor and Tarpon Springs areas, but bringing the sick or injured animal to Largo for care wasn’t an option. People who wanted to help often didn’t have the time, training or resources to safely transport the animal to SPCA Tampa Bay’s Largo campus.
Now people who live in Palm Harbor, Tarpon Springs, Dunedin and surrounding neighborhoods have a resource to help animals found in their community. Injured or young wildlife brought to the Animal Resource Center will receive care, then be transported to rehabilitative partners like Urban Wildlife Center for specialized care.
All pets surrendered to the Palm Harbor location will be transported to SPCA Tampa Bay for care. Pet owners facing hardships can receive free pet food through Pebble’s Food Bank, which provides nutritious meals for pets.
People who bring a stray or lost pet to the Animal Resource Center can help increase the chances of the pet being reunited with its owners, while it receives care in a safe location. SPCA Tampa Bay collaborates with Pinellas County Animal Services, which is the main resource for stray pets in the community. Lost or stray pets will receive care, then be transferred to Pinellas County Animal Services.
The Animal Resource Center is located at 34088 U.S. Highway 19 N. in Palm Harbor. It’s open Sunday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information on the Animal Resource Center, please visit www.spcatampabay.org/animal-resource-center/.
About SPCA Tampa Bay
SPCA Tampa Bay transforms the lives of animals through passionate collaboration with its community. It is the only non-profit animal welfare agency that runs an open-admission animal shelter, pet training facility and public veterinary center in Pinellas County. It assists all animals in need, regardless of species or circumstance, at its 10-acre campus in Largo. It also operates a full-service veterinary hospital in St. Petersburg that is open to all pet owners and provides pets with a lifetime of high-quality care including dental and surgical procedures, diagnostic testing, annual exams, vaccines and spay/neuter. Founded in 1940, SPCA Tampa Bay has cared for millions of homeless, surrendered, and injured animals. For more information, visit spcatampabay.org.