Dr. William Powell hasn’t practiced veterinary medicine since the Oregon Veterinary Medical Examining Board closed his clinic in July 2007. But that hasn’t kept hundreds of former clients from calling the former veterinarian for help with their pets. He said he gives some advice, but without the license the board revoked, that’s all he can do.

“I’m unable to help anybody,” Powell said this week. “I think it’s a sad state of affairs because they can’t afford the going prices that are being charged at this point in time by veterinarians.”

While he ran the Low Cost Spay & Neuter Clinic out of Empire, and before that at Pony Village Mall, Powell said he conducted more than 18,000 procedures, including spays and neuters, in about eight years. He said he typically charged $45 for a cat spay and $30 for a neuter.

“I run into people all the time who wish I were still there,” he said. “I do not sneak from bush to bush looking for cats, but I have hundreds of people who want spays and neuters done.”

Powell said he believes the county and its shelter are teeming with homeless pets since he closed his business.

“I think anybody you talk to would say that the closing of my clinic caused a lot of extra cats and dogs,” he said. There are “too many cats and too many people who can’t afford the prices.”

The Oregon Humane Society’s numbers say Coos County Animal Shelter took in more dogs in 2009 than in 2008, but the number of cats decreased slightly from 2008 to 2009.

The 79-year-old Bandon man, who has since written a collection of short stories titled “Wyoming Back Tracks,” said he has no plans to try to get his license reinstated.