Veternarians in Port St Lucie

What happened to compassion and people wanting to help other living beings????? They don't live in Port St Lucie~!

For those of you that know Raven (Michael's dog), you know that she has been sick a lot. She had another one of her "asthmatic attacks" today. Of course, this usually happens on weekends or in the middle of the night....when there aren't any vets open!

For all the animal lovers out there...here's the run down.
Mike is low on cash and needed a vet who would understand this and make arrangements with him.
1. Emergency clinic...forget it. All about money, your animal will only get the treatment that it needs up until your wallet is empty. They will watch an animal die if they can't get paid in full up front.
2. Morningside Animal Clinic. We have been customers of theirs for years. They have received numerous referrals from us. They refused to see or treat Raven due to a balance being owed from her last episode. Mike took them the money and requested that they look at Raven and help her. The receptionists reply was "we have to eat too" and they still wouldn't look at her.
While Mike, Kanesha and Teddy were trying to get Morningside to treat her, I was on the phone looking for someone open.
3. Port St Lucie Animal Hospital. Not in, but said the vet would call me to give me advice. The vet called me and when I started explaining everything to him, his comment was "Spare me the editorial, this is my cell phone. Call my office on Monday and set up appointment." Not in this lifetime idiot.
4. A vet from Palm City called me and when I told him we needed to make payment arrangements, he said if the dog was that sickly and financially draining, we should consider euthanasia. For those of you that know me....you know exactly what I told him. He then told me that we should take the dog back to where we got her and give it back after all, Florida does have a "lemon dog" law. We are talking about a puppy here, a part of our family, not a car. We want to get her medical attention, not return her because she is too much trouble! I ended up hanging up on him as he really pissed me off with his non-caring attitude. He called back and suggested that we "sign" her over to him and he would treat her and find a good home. I told him he should not be a vet!

Well, we DO have people that care. They took Raven to a firestation where the paramedics gave her oxygen. Those guys are the only ones that cared enough to help her. Kudos to those guys.....you were wonderful! I'm not mentioning what firestation or any names so as not to get anyone in trouble. You know who you are and we thank you for what you did. You did not have to, but you had more compassion than those who were trained and supposedly took an oath to help sick animals.

Veternarian Oath (Adopted by the House of Delegates in 1969, Amended by the Executive Board in 1999 and added to by the Herb's in 2007.)

Being admitted to the profession of veterinary medicine,
I solemnly swear to use my scientific knowledge
and skills for the benefit of society
through the protection of animal health,
the relief of animal suffering, as long as we get paid in full before looking at that animal!If owner of said suffering animal does not have the financial ability to pay us in full upfront, the above oath is null and void.

PSL residents wary of planned parkway

PORT ST. LUCIE — As engineering plans for segments of the Crosstown Parkway get finalized in coming months, homeowners near the corridor's edges wait nervously for the earthen barriers to shield them from vehicle traffic.

"We're not too thrilled," said Teri Paisley, who expected a road expansion when she bought her property four years ago but noted the project has gotten bigger since then.

City officials said they have gotten residents' input and made adjustments throughout the planning of the six-lane parkway, on the drawing board since the 1980s.

The segments from Interstate 95 over Florida's Turnpike to Manth Lane should be finished by sometime in 2009, allowing a major east-west route through most of the city. Workers will build berms on both sides of the road with grass, bushes and trees on top through the entire project, although the height will vary, officials said.

Project manager Jim Angstadt, who oversees the segment from I-95 to Florida's Turnpike, said the city will leave in place a berm abutting Lake Charles, a neighborhood in St. Lucie West. Workers will start adding a 5- to 8-foot-high berm on the south side of the Parkway in March or early April to shield neighbors on Southwest Janette Avenue, Angstadt said.

In addition, the city will install a 6-foot-high chain-link fence clad in black vinyl along the property line as an extra barrier on segment two, from the turnpike to Manth Lane, and possibly a similar fence on segment four, from the turnpike west to I-95, he said.

Segment two's berm will be lower — 3 to 4 feet — in places, Angstadt said, but will have more landscaping than in other areas.

Officials sped up constructing a berm along several blocks east of the turnpike between Empire and Hibiscus streets last year after residents abutting the future parkway complained that dirt from immense piles was swirling into their yards.

Teri and Bob Paisley said the city could have kept residents like them more informed on the project. They researched the parkway before they bought their land but said it got bigger since then, including going from four to six lanes.

"I'm afraid (the parkway) will decrease property values of the houses backing up to it," Bob Paisley said.

Residents in Lake Charles have voiced concerns as well, even taking their Councilwoman, Michelle Berger, on a golf cart tour of the areas closest to the parkway. They told her they wanted more berms, but she said, "We want to make sure one neighborhood doesn't get more than others."

Armand Moniz, 80, a resident near the parkway's southern edge, said he was fine with the road as long as the berm was put up.

"Anything to stop the congestion and traffic," he said.

By CHRIS YOUNG chris.young@scripps.com January 15, 2007

Port St. Lucie debates tax relief for poor elderly

PORT ST. LUCIE — In eight years, Florida voters have twice enthusiastically supported property tax breaks for poor senior citizens, but 3,556 eligible city residents haven't seen their city tax bills drop by one dime as a result.

Mayor Patricia Christensen would like to rectify that, especially since the city has never complied with the first voter referendum in 1998 that authorized local governments to extend an additional $25,000 homestead exemption to residents 65 and older whose household income is less than $20,000 yearly.

Voters in November ratified a second $25,000 shield to elderly residents, meaning local governments that enact both measures would extend a $75,000 homestead exemption to low-income seniors. Although past city councils declined to extend the initial $25,000 tax shield to eligible taxpayers, fearing it would rake too much money from their annual coffers, Christensen said she wants to explore the impact and afford the greatest tax cut possible to those most in need.

"It's the least we can do now that the second exemption has passed," Christensen said. "To some people it would mean a lot."

St. Lucie County commissioners in 2002 ratified the 1998 voter amendment, voting to gradually phase in the full $25,000 exemption over five years. Property Appraiser Jeff Furst told Christensen there are 3,556 low-income seniors in Port St. Lucie who receive the exemption on county tax levies.

If all 3,556 eligible city residents received an additional $25,000 homestead exemption on the city portion of their tax bill, it would reduce the city's property tax revenues by $391,160, given a tax rate of $4.44 per $1,000 of taxable property value.

Extending the additional $50,000 exemption would double that loss to $782,320, assuming all eligible residents owned property with taxable property values of at least $75,000 each.

Other city council members are mixed on the plan, with Councilman Christopher Cooper opposed and Councilwoman Linda Bartz undecided. Councilwoman Michelle Berger supports both tax breaks, and Vice Mayor Jack Kelly said he'd like to phase in the breaks, much as the county is doing.

"There's a small portion of people who fall into that category," Berger said. "I don't need to be hit over the head three times. I'm a proponent of actually listening to what the voters want."

Cooper said granting special interest groups tax breaks simply shifts the burden onto other taxpayers, some of whom may be needier than the ones receiving the benefit.

"We need to go back and revisit the entire homestead exemption program to make it fair for everyone," Cooper said. "For us to grant people exemptions based on their age, income, military status and everything else, is not the answer."

Christensen said she will schedule a council discussion on the topic after receiving more information about the financial effects.

City Manager Don Cooper said he considers the tax loss minimal given the city's $62 million general fund budget, which depends largely on property taxes. "It never helps, but it's not the end of the world," he said.

By Teresa Lane
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Sunday, January 14, 2007