Morgan County Herald Wednesday, February 24, 2010
SPOT to bring low-cost spay/neuter clinics to the county during the year
S.P.O.T. (Saving Pets One at a Time, Inc) will be bringing low-cost spay/neuter clinics to Morgan County throughout the year, it was announced. These clinics are for dogs and cats, with large dogs being especially requested, as these are the dogs whose unwanted offspring often later end up in the pound, it was pointed out. The clinics will be held every other month, with the next clinic scheduled for late March.
Financial assistance is available. S.P.O.T. encourages every pet owner in the county to make a call, and find out how easy it is to get their pet fixed. Every effort will be made to ensure there is no reason not to get this surgery done. S.P.O.T. will be taking reservations and registering pets by phone throughout the year, to be assigned places in the clinics. More clinics may be scheduled, if the need is great enough. The pets will be given places on the clinic schedule on a first-come, first-served basis, although animals at risk may be moved up. The number to call is 651-1776.
“Morgan County, like most areas, has an overpopulation of unwanted dogs and cats, mostly former pets who have been abandoned or lost, and their offspring. This leads to problems for the county including running strays, impoundment of hundreds of dogs, the feral cat population, etc.,” says S.P.O.T. representative Kate Christman, "The solution is simple: spay or neuter your pets, number one, and make sure your dogs are licensed, number two. The pet owners themselves have the power to make this whole thing pretty much solve itself, if they will just make the effort. And now, with the Rascals clinic coming to Morgan County as often as it is, there is no reason for pet owners to wait. They should know that S.P.O.T. will work with the pet owners to get their pets fixed."
The Rascals clinic is a fully-equipped mobile veterinary hospital that operates from their facility near Columbus. They go on the road, to bring their surgical services to rural areas such as Morgan County. They have a fully licensed veterinarian and a team of highly experienced vet techs. In one visit they can spay or neuter over 40 animals.
The Rascals clinic can also provide a number of other services. There will not be financial assistance for these optional procedures, but the cost is still very low. These services include: vaccinations, rabies shots, flea treatment, teeth-cleaning, micro-chip implanting, heart-worm testing, nail clipping, parasite control, and much more. A complete list of the services available may be viewed on www.rascalunit.com.
"We are very pleased that some real, long-term progress will be made in controlling the pet overpopulation problem in Morgan County." Kelly Caldwell, of S.P.O.T., said. She went on to say that S.P.O.T. also is having great success with finding permanent homes for many of the stray dogs that do find their way into the pound. "We work with Becky Thompson, the dog warden, and take as many of the adoptable dogs out of the pound as we can, and into foster homes. At any given time we have from 60-80 dogs in foster care. This is actually much better for the dogs than keeping them in a facility. They interact with other people and dogs, and experience living in a household environment. Instead of their socialization level deteriorating, as often happens in a pound or shelter, they improve in their social interactions and behavior,
To find out more about the Rascals clinic schedule, and the financial assistance available, call Kelly Caldwell at 651-1776. Announcements will also be made in the Herald, and pre-registration forms can be picked up at Kate Love Simpson and Chesterhill Branch Libraries, before each clinic.