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16 <br />significant role, and one that is changing as part of the development of this strategic <br />plan. <br />New formalized opportunities are being created for volunteers with an interest in <br />working in the area of community spay and neuter. Their work may involve counseling <br />interested members of the community to matching residents with low-cost sterilization <br />services to assisting with transportation on the day of surgery and the like. As with <br />other parts of the volunteer program, these require appropriate training, some of which <br />is general in nature, and some of which is specific to spay and neuter related <br />responsibilities. <br />These opportunities are in addition to more established forms of outreach which have <br />promoted spay and neuter as component parts of responsible pet ownership. An <br />outstanding example has been the outreach work that staff and volunteers routinely do <br />at the County's low-cost rabies vaccination clinics. Further outreach with aspay/neuter <br />focus is a distinct possibility as this strategic plan is implemented. <br />As with other resources, volunteer time and commitment is fixed, and their activities <br />must be managed in a commensurate manner. This point deserves special emphasis <br />given that we are already seeking to redefine volunteer opportunities to provide more <br />adoption counseling (and the like) given the opening of the County's new Animal <br />Services Center. <br />As with program planning, it is critical that the activities pursued under this strategic <br />plan not exceed available human and material resources. By establishing formalized <br />and effective partnerships, it may be possible to pursue otherwise prohibitive activities <br />that are critical to reducing animal intake and euthanasia. Precedents for such <br />partnerships exist in the form of our current agreement with AnimalKind and the <br />emergent standard agreement with various placement partners. <br />VI. Funding the Plan <br />A. Background <br />Funds to support programs initiated and managed through this strategic plan will <br />primarily come from Orange County's Community Spay/Neuter Fund. This fund <br />receives $20 for each registration of a dog or cat that is intact and capable of <br />reproducing (and thus contributing to the problem of pet overpopulation). The fund was <br />created as part of the FY0708 budget process which increased the licensing fee (or tax <br />rate) for intact dogs and cats from $10 to $30. <br />Each fiscal year since the County's Community Spay/Neuter Fund was created, more <br />than $25,000 has been gathered as a result of the $20 increase in the licensing fee for <br />animals with reproductive. capacity. As can be seen from Appendix V, these are the <br />funds that have been used to address pet overpopulation in our community by <br />14 <br />