by David Chapman
Staff Writer
As a child, Mark Trebatoski always figured he’d become a veterinarian or work in a zoo.
While the Midwesterner never ended up doing either, he does work with animals as chief of the Animal Care and Control division for the City, a position he began a little more than two months ago.
“I caught the fever,” said Trebatoski, on his initial experience working with animals again. “Using my business background and being able to work with animals was a real bonus.”
His business background includes a bachelor’s and master’s degree in business administration from the University of Wisconsin and time working in different positions in Lee County in South Florida, but it was an opportunity to lead in Jacksonville that swayed him to come north.
“I fell in love with Jacksonville when I come up for the interview (for the vacant Animal Control chief position),” said Trebatoski. “I really like the city atmosphere and it was a great opportunity.”
He was hired in November and a little more than two months later he said he’s become acclimated with the position, with the exception of “the little things” such as policies and processes unique to Jacksonville.
“Once you start working in a new position in a new city, you realize just how challenging and different it is,” he said.
As chief, Trebatoski oversees the agency — and its more than 60 employees — responsible for animal care and control, including pet adoption and enforcement of laws and regulations pertaining to the treatment of domesticated animals.
While multitasking is a priority with most jobs, juggling the emotions and priorities of the many groups and individuals involved in animal care and control is somewhat of a challenge.
“It’s one of the more unique fields out there,” he said. “You acquire relationships with the animal lovers, the animal haters, people with mixed emotions about pets, veterinarians, animal welfare officials, government officials, community partners and others.”
It’s not the only challenging aspect of the job. Much like other businesses, a struggling economy can drastically inflate the number of pets and animals that come through the organization’s doors.
In a bad economy, he said, people bring back pets because they can’t afford them or they had to downsize residences themselves — from houses to apartments, where often pets aren’t allowed.
And there’s only so much room as you can’t keep adding animals without making room for them.
Ideally, he said, sheltered pets become adopted or “live releases” to community partner organizations that find them homes.
The worst case scenario is euthanization — something that happened to around 17,000 of the 26,000 animals taken in by Animal Care and Control last year, he said.
The Animal Care and Control budget is around $3.6 million, but Trebatoski is looking to change the business model by reforming policies, looking for alternative ways to save money and expanding their outreach with community partnerships.
“It’s taking a look at everything,” he said. “We don’t want to continue to do things a certain way just because that’s the way they’ve always been done.”
It’s a process, but he said he believes the public will look at Animal Care and Control in six months to a year and see a completely revamped organization.
The Jacksonville Humane Society is one of those community partners and Executive Director Leonna Sheddan is already impressed with Trebatoski during his short tenure.
“We’re really excited he’s here,” said Sheddan. “He has a mind and a heart for the animals. He’s forming more relationships with pet placement partners as opposed to focusing on adoptions and we’re delighted about his leadership in Animal Care and Control.”
Animal Care and Control transfers around 2,000 animals a year to the Humane Society, said Sheddan, which then attempts to find them homes and diminishes the burden on the City agency.
“Ultimately, the goal of all animal organizations in Jacksonville is to decrease the number of euthanizations,” said Sheddan.
Trebatoski considers that one of his top priorities as well, and said he believes the number and percentage of euthanized animals will decrease significantly in 2009.
Besides decreasing euthanizations and increasing partnerships, Trebatoski is working on rebranding the agency in anticipation of venue changes for both its Westside office and Mandarin adoption facility. Combined, his ultimate goal is to make the agency one of the best in Florida.
“My goal is to be one of the best within three years,” he said, “and I think we can do it.”
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