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CTV News
26-06-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Calgary Humane Society expanding affordable clinics this summer
Ashlyn Prediger and Sharon Manly, take the pulse of Dollar, a Nova Scotia Duck Toller, at a pet first aid class held at the Calgary Humane Society in Calgary on Saturday, Dec. 8, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dave Chidley The Calgary Humane Society will be expanding its affordable clinics this summer to help more families keep their pets healthy. The humane society offers spay/neuter clinics once a month and vaccination clinics quarterly for those who make less than $57, 909 annually. 'Community clinics are designed to break down financial barriers and keep pets with the families who love them,' said spokesperson Anna-Lee Fitzsimmons. The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App 'By offering no-cost spay/neuter surgeries, vaccinations and wellness exams to low-income households, these clinics promote responsible pet ownership, reduce overpopulation and help prevent surrender due to unaffordable vet care.' Fitzsimmons says 76 per cent of all dog applications for spay and neuter are large breeds. 'We believe that the surge in demand for dogs during COVID has led to a high number of unfixed animals in the community,' she said. 'We're recruiting applicants, both clients and clinics, to help these services expand.' Being privately funded, the humane society is always accepting donations, with Fitzsimmons saying they can only offer these clinics with the support of donors. 'Come July and August, when we host our city-wide spay and neuter drive, we will have a specific campaign with a matching donor we will be asking supporters to contribute too,' she said. If you can provide proof of income, less than $57,909/per year and you own an animal between two months and six years of age that is not intended for sale and healthy, you can apply here. During the wellness and vaccine clinic, a core combination vaccination will be given to each animal, but owners will need to schedule and pay for a booster two weeks later. This vaccine does not include a rabies vaccination, nor does the spay and neuter clinic when a core combination vaccination will be given upon recovery from anesthesia. 'Rooted in compassion and prevention, the clinics not only support animal welfare but also strengthen public health, reduce strain on local shelters and build more resilient, connected communities,' Fitzsimmons said.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Overpopulation Solution: Veterinarians donating time to help strays
LEBANON — This year, an unprecedented number of stray cats have been flooding rescue facilities, calling for a viable and safe solution for these furry friends. The Lebanon Veterinary Hospital offered a solution by creating the SNIPS (Spays, Neuters Impact Populations) program, in which veterinarians are donating their time to provide spay and neuter services for rescue organizations at a small cost. According to Bernadette Orscher, VP of marketing for the network of hospitals Piper Veterinary, this crisis is the consequence of various factors. One of the factors is that for each unaltered female cat, 36 kittens can be born every year. Other factors have played a role in this crisis, like the increased costs for spay and neuter procedures going from $400 to over $1,000 in Connecticut. Economic pressure has also led to an increase in pet abandonments. 'That flywheel of unspayed and neutered animals is just going to continue to raise the number of pet abandonment numbers,' she said. 'The state now has officially recognized the overpopulation issue. So, instead of putting additional strains on town resources, we're trying to help and get ahead of it.' Although rescues get help through the State Voucher Program to finance these procedures, the number of animals in need have led many rescues to be out of vouchers before the year ended. With SNIPS, the Lebanon Veterinary Hospital is providing these procedures at a discounted rate, whether they still have these vouchers or not. In a few numbers, a dog spay cost over $800, which is reduced to $200 with the SNIPS program. For cats, the procedures start at $80. In addition to each surgery, the animals also get two vaccinations at no additional cost. 'The veterinary team is absorbing a significant amount of the cost to offer this to rescues,' she said. 'So, we're trying to make sure we can keep it as inclusive as possible and open as possible.' Throughout the summer, Piper Veterinary and the Lebanon Veterinary Hospital will be hosting programs to help animals get the medical attention they need to limit overpopulation. 'We're trying to maximize the number of animals that we're able to help and support. And that's best negotiated through rescue groups,' Orscher said. On June 9, they will have a clinic day with PAWS cat shelter and are still scheduling events to do throughout the summer. 'There's nothing harder in vet medicine than seeing discarded or unwanted pets,' said Dr. Steven Zickmann of Lebanon Veterinary Hospital. 'We have to do better, or it will never stop.'
