Originally Published Wednesday, January 9, 2008
The Tuscaloosa News

Tuscaloosa native named new director of T-Town PAWS

By Lydia Seabol Avant
Staff writer

NORTHPORT | Tuscaloosa native Frank Slapikas has spent a career on the golf course, either playing as a professional golfer or organizing golf events. Now, he'll turn his skills towards organizing events and working with people to help another cause close to his heart.

Slapikas is taking over as director of T-Town PAWS. He replaces Joel Warner, who served as interim director of the organization since October.

Slapikas, who has a marketing degree from the University of Alabama, has spent several years working in the golf industry, most recently on the NGA Hooters Pro Golf Tour.

He said he is excited about his new position.

"I've loved animals my whole life," said Slapikas, who has an 11-year-old cocker spaniel named Bailey. "It is great that this opportunity came around at the time that it did."

One of the things Slapikas hopes to do is use his experience to make people more aware of T-Town PAWS and its purpose. The nonprofit organization, which formed about eight years ago, was solely focused on increasing the spaying and neutering of pets to reduce the number of animals euthanized at the Tuscaloosa Metro Animal Shelter.

But with help from a $2 million Maddie's Fund grant, the organization has grown from being completely staffed by volunteers to a organization that offers pets for adoption at two adoption centers, the Maddie's adoption center in Northport and the adoption room at Pet Supplies Plus in Tuscaloosa. It has two full-time employees and a few part-time employees, said Laura Lineberry, president of the T-Town PAWS board of directors.

Slapikas will be integral to T-Town PAWS's continued growth, she added.

"We are so excited to have him," Lineberry said. "We are growing so fast, we are having to run this whole organization like a business."

The potential for growth is one aspect of the job that Slapikas said attracted him.

"It's a great organization but yet they are in a transition period," Slapikas said. "We can hopefully do something to take it to the next level. There is a lot of opportunity for development, which is very appealing to me."

T-Town PAWS organizes several annual events and fundraisers, including Pet PAW'Loosa in the spring.

One of the first events Slapikas hopes to organize in the future seems to be a natural fit for him - a golf tournament for T-Town PAWS.

"It is nothing obviously official at this point," he said. "But it is one thing we'd obviously like to do."

Reach Lydia Seabol Avant at lydia.seabol@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0222.