Cat Spay of Santa Fe Fixes 459 Cats in 2010

Cat Spay of Santa Fe finished its first (May-December) year with a total of 459 cat sterilizations – and we’ve already got another 60 outstanding vouchers redeemable this month to give 2011 a jump start.

Our program is unique because it offers free and accessible spay/neuter help to cats that typically live below the spay/neuter radar – not because their caregivers don’t get the importance of sterilization -- but simply because they can’t afford it. They may be students, young parents, or unemployed, disabled or elderly adults living on fixed incomes – or they may be property owners feeding stray and feral cats that claim their yard as home -- where the sheer number of cats puts the cost of surgery out of reach regardless of income.

We appreciate the help we’re receiving from area vet clinics (shelter and private). For as important as it is to make spay/neuter free, it’s equally important to make it convenient. For many caregivers, the cost of gas is prohibitive and others are dependent on public transportation or friends and relatives to take them to a clinic – and they’ll hesitate to ask for help if it involves a major drive.

Our vouchers are now accepted in Santa Fe at Valley Veterinary, Sangre de Christo Animal Hospital, Gruda Animal Hospital and in Edgewood at Vista Larga Animal Hospital. In addition, the Santa Fe Animal Shelter and Humane Society accepts our vouchers at both their Spay/Neuter & Wellness Clinic and at their SpAN New Mexico Mobile Clinics – the latter accounted for almost half of our 2010 surgeries and enabled us to extend our services to outlying areas that would be difficult to cover without them.  

Through the efforts of these clinics we're able to help caregivers fix -- and keep -- their cats.  Cats that could otherwise end up on their own outdoors or euthanized in shelters.  We look forward to 2011 as our first full year of activity and hope to see our spay/neuter numbers triple. Full details and program applications are available on our web site – but for many of our lower-income applicants who aren’t computer savvy – all it takes to apply is a five-minute phone call. We have no waiting list and mail vouchers as soon as the application is approved. Happy New Year to you and your cats!

BTW we're mapping our spay/neuters on our web site --totaled by zip code.  To see the scope of our service area just click here.  We'll update the map monthly throughout 2011.