From injections to surgeries, from gunshots to pregnancies, dozens of sick and injured homeless animals came under the care of Dr. Kevin Hines.

Several times a week, the Longview veterinarian volunteered his services to the animals at the shelter of the Humane Society of Cowlitz County.

"It was obvious he wasn't in the veterinarian business to turn a buck," Humane Society Board member Wayne Lunday said. "The guy had a tremendous heart for the animals."

Hines, the owner of Hines Pet Health on 14th Avenue, died at St. John Medical Center after collapsing Thursday at a martial arts class. He was 45 years old. The cause of his death was not available Sunday night.

Like many veterinarians, Hines tended to animals at the shelter, but few volunteered as much time as Hines did, said former interim executive Jim Reinecke.

"He worked with the staff to explain symptoms, and what the staff could do if there was something they could do themselves — like a vet would with your own pet," Reinecke said.

Hines was awarded the society's 1997 Humanitarian of the Year, after treating about a third of its 170 injured animals.

"I think it's incumbent on the profession to help out the humane organizations in the country," Hines told a reporter in 1998, when he won his award. "I look at it as kind of a duty."

Lunday said Hines also helped the Humane Society in its efforts to avoid euthanizing the animals. Hines trained the staff often in stopping the spread of contagious diseases among the kennels, preventing the deaths of dozens of animals, he said.

Hines also helped out when the Humane Society was looking for a director in 2000. He looked after the sick animals until the society hired veterinarian Dr. Mike Sardinia.

More than 5,000 animals a year go through the Humane Society's shelter, Lunday said.

Hines showed his concern for animals outside Humane Society activities, and for several years he offered free vaccinations for local pets, Lunday said.

"It was a loss to the communty when he died," he said.