b'her mother LaVerne Peyton Terry and a foster, Bruce Terry and Miranda LambertTerry (l) and A J UDGEMENT -F REE Z ONEW here N o P et W ill e ver B e D eNieD C areBy Anna CookeThe dog had a name, and a family who loved isat17percentpovertyrateandmostofand cared for her. Critically injured, Princess those people are older, on fixed or limitedwas rushed to the nearest emergency veteri- income. And, they love their pets.naryclinic.Sheneededlifesavingsurgery, TLC PetSnip in Lakeland has performedbut the family was told by staff that without 45,000 spay/neuter surgeries in Polk Countypayment up front, there would be no surgery. overthelastseven-plusyears.AsecondThe family had no means to payno cash, location was opened in Seffner (2017), and ano credit. They couldnt even afford to have third location in Ocala (2018) for anotherIn March, The New Barker their dog humanely euthanized.combined20,000+completedspay/neutervisited the Lakeland location Theseareissuesfacedbytheworking surgeries. Before the opening of the Ocalaof TLC PetSnip. We sat down poor, living paycheck to paycheck, where an clinic, Marion Countys live release numberswith its Founder Terry Sandlak, emergency of any kind will put them over hovered around 50%. In 2019, that numberExecutive Director Emily the edge. Should anyone have to make the rose to 89.4% and in 2020 it was 92.8%.Lorenzano, and Director of agonizing choice between paying the electric InacontinuingefforttohelpPolkDevelopment Lisa Rexford bill or paying to save their dogs life?CountyAnimalControllowertheirGray. The three clinic locations, Someoneinsidetheclinicknewof euthanasia numbers, the Lakeland locationthrough their combined efforts, another solution and called TLC PetSnip in isundergoingrenovationstoexpandtheirare changing the lives of pets Lakeland. The family rushed Princess to the capabilities.Seffnerissoontofollowwithand their humans in Polk, clinic.Onelookatthedogand renovations of their own. Hillsborough, and TLC PetSnips Dr. Michele Ferrera realized As rescue chairman for Florida GreatMarion Counties. her dire condition was worse than previously Pyrenees Rescue, Sandlak had seen her sharedescribed. All other surgeries were resched- of owner-surrenders due to financial hardship.uledthatdaytofocusonPrincess,her Sandlak kept hearing about people whosurgeryandmonitoringhersubsequent couldntkeeptheirdogsbecauseoftheirrecovery.inability to pay for either preventive medi-TLCPetSnipwasestablishedin cine, a surgical procedure, or emergency care.Lakeland in 2013 as a low cost spay/neuter As a rescue group, we were also havingclinic. Additional programs such as wellness, troublefindingveterinarianswhowouldsurgical procedures, and a pet food pantry handle our spay/neuter surgeries at a lowerhavesincebeenadded,onlyafterthe cost,saidSandlak.Atthetime,Ihearddemandsfromthecommunityweretoo from other rescue groups having the samemuch to ignore.problem. No one was providing affordablePeoplejustkeptaskingusforhelp, spay/neutersurgeries.Wewereallinthesaid Sandlak. Our Polk County community same boat.38 THE NEW BARKER www.TheNewBarker.com'