ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A St. Petersburg animal shelter’s plan to triple its capacity for dogs is on hold after Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed $2 million in state funding requested for the project.
Friends of Strays Animal Shelter, a Pinellas County nonprofit, sought the money to help build a new dog adoption center. Shelter leaders said the expansion would increase space for dogs and help the organization raise annual adoptions from about 2,000 to 2,500.
Friends of Strays takes in dogs and cats primarily from overpopulated municipal shelters.
“We are able to transfer our animals to our shelter to take care of their medical needs and get them adopted and relieve some of the burden on some of those smaller shelters,” said Dara Worthington, CEO of Friends of Strays Animal Shelter.
Worthington has been with the nonprofit for more than nine years and said the organization has grown significantly. In 2020, Friends of Strays purchased two buildings to expand adoptions.
One of those buildings became the “Cat Box,” which opened two years ago.
“So it was important for us to have a quiet, safe space for them,” Worthington said.
The building next door was expected to be renovated into the “Milkey Bone Dog House,” but that project has not moved forward because of a lack of funding, according to the shelter.
Worthington said the current dog facility is not large enough for the shelter’s needs.
“With the number of dogs, the size of dogs and we’re just very limited in what we can offer for resources for dogs at this point without the new building,” Worthington said.
Friends of Strays requested $2 million from the state for the current fiscal year, but DeSantis vetoed the funding, further delaying construction.
“Without the support from the state, we’re going to have to rely on the support of generous donors,” Worthington said. “And, with the economy the way it is right now, that’s a difficult ask.”
Spectrum News asked DeSantis’ office about the veto, and we were referred to the governor’s budget signing speech. DeSantis said reducing spending was a core priority.
“There’s a variety of things,” DeSantis said. “Some of the stuff wasn’t necessarily bad. It’s just I set a target to be underneath the current year budget, so we had to get to that level and some of the things were plausible, but you just have to make decisions.”
Friends of Strays said the project would ease the taxpayer burden on funding for local shelters. The nonprofit plans to ask for state funding again next year.
“This building is so important to the future of Friends of Strays and also to the state of Florida, because we will be able to save so many more dogs with this building,” Worthington said.
There is no scheduled construction and no completion date set for the expansion project while funding remains uncertain.