With a little help from some friends, the Temple Animal Facility is performing spay and neuter operations onsite for dogs and cats they hope to adopt into good homes.

Funds provided through the Association for a Pet Adoption Center (APAC) provide out-of-pocket expenses for a volunteer veterinarian and pay on a contract basis for a veterinarian technician who together provide spay and neuter operations in the shelter’s surgery room.

Jane Mahlow has been doing the surgeries at the shelter since January.

A retired veterinarian who had a practice in Round Rock for years, Dr. Mahlow now sees the work she is doing at the shelter as an opportunity to keep working for a cause she has spent the better portion of her life fighting for - spay and neuter programs and adoption of unwanted animals.

“I’m a sucker for the underdog,” she said. “I wanted to provide a safety net for those animals that have no one else.”

The Bartlett resident said a meeting with Walter Hetzel, supervisor of the shelter, and a tour of the city’s facility a couple of years ago helped convince her to continue working for her cause in Temple.

“Over time I thought about it and thought why not contribute to their (APAC and the shelter’s) effort - my heart really goes out to pet overpopulation,” she said.

And the best way to curb pet over population, she said, is by neutering animals before they are adopted out.

“I’m a firm believer that any shelter that adopts out animals that are not sterilized is essentially pouring water into their own boat,” she said.

In the 1990s Dr. Mahlow held a job with the State Health Department overseeing the state’s animal shelters. From that perspective, she reflects strong feelings about unwanted animals.

“Euthanasia is the No. 1 killer of animals in U.S.,” she said. “Not the old and sick animals, but because they are not wanted by anyone - just excess animals.”

She said the answer to the problem is exactly what the Temple shelter is doing now.

“The problem is so preventable through spaying and neutering,” she said.

“That’s why I’ve chosen to spend time at the root of the problem,” she said. “Not putting a Band-Aid on it (but) wanting to solve it.”

Hetzel agrees.

“It’s the whole reason we (the shelter) exist here, is the problem of unwanted pets,” he said.

Those “excess animals,” Dr. Mahlow says, are a sad commentary to a throw-away society and drain tax dollars. They also pose a threat to public safety.

“Unfortunately we’re not at the point where every animal can be sterilized prior to adoption, but we are making progress.”

Dr. Mahlow, who has written two books with animal themes that she sells on her Web site, says her fondness for animals began at an early age. She remembers working for their welfare years ago when she lived in Illinois.

“When I was 18 I began going door-to-door in my neighborhood selling greeting cards as a fundraiser for animals,” she said.

Dr. Mahlow works on a volunteer basis, but APAC funds her out-of-pocket expenses, including her license renewal.

Hetzel said people who adopt pets that have not been sterilized at the shelter are required to have the new pet neutered or spayed on their own. Cats can be adopted for $10 and dogs for $20.

The cost of adopting a neutered or spayed animal at the shelter is $50.

Hetzel said it is more convenient and less expensive if the operation is done at the shelter, ultimately saving money for the adopter.

Also, the fee goes to the Ida Olliffe Foundation, which contributes spay/neuter efforts, educational programs and other enhancements that benefit the shelter.

Dawn Hartman, who started in April as the vet tech at the shelter, also is following a lifelong love of animals through her work.

“We always had dogs and cats as a family,” she said. “My dad always brought home injured wildlife, so I took care of (the animals), rehabbed them and turned them loose,” she said.

She spent two winters as a volunteer at the shelter before she was hired part time two years ago as an animal control officer. She began working at the shelter on a full time basis in July 2007.

As part of her responsibilities as an animal control officer, she handles most of the medication needs of the animals, which made her a good fit for the vet tech position APAC wanted for the shelter.

Hetzel said Ms. Hartman trained with Dr. Lance Crews, the veterinary consultant for the shelter.

“After we felt comfortable that she knew enough to assist the doctor in surgery, they started working together,” Hetzel said.

As part of her job as a vet tech, which APAC pays on a contract basis, Ms. Hartman assists Dr. Mahlow with her surgeries.

“I set everything up before she arrives, medications and whatever,” she said. She also chooses the animals that will have the surgery and prepares them by weighing them and assisting while they are sedated. She also shaves them and preps them for surgery and sterilizes the instruments.

Dr. Mahlow said Ms. Hartman is an asset to her in her work.

“She is a great individual, a very humane and compassionate person,” she says. “She gets the job done.”