The Tucson Action Team to Advocate for Dogs is helping Tucson’s animal shelters combat overpopulation of stray dogs with its low-cost spay and neuter clinic.
KGUN reports that this is the first pop-up clinic that the dog advocacy group has hosted.
According to the Humane Society of Southern Arizona, spaying/neutering a dog can cost anywhere from $125 to $265.
But families and dog owners only paid $50 at the Tucson Action Team to Advocate for Dogs’ pop-up clinic. $25 for the service, and another $25 for post-surgery medication and e-collar.
Co-chair of the Tucson Action Team’s spay and neuter committee, Katie Bultman, tells KGUN, “We’re trying to reach that portion of the population who care for their pets, love their pets, but can’t afford all of the vet care on their own.”
Tiffany Linden, a mom of one of the families that came to the pop-up clinic said that as a responsible pet owner, it’s important for them to help limit the population of dogs.
“Plus, we have other female dogs, so we don’t want to have more puppies, so just being responsible as a pet owner for sure,” she said.
“We see it firsthand. Every day, every day we see puppies dumped, dogs dumped, and it’s mounting and it stems from lack of affordable spay and neuter services as well as backyard breeding.”
The pop-up clinic was a collaboration between the group and the Asavet Veterinary Charities. And the event was held at the Tucson Rescue Now on Wednesday, October 16.
“Yup, today we opened up our space to Tucson Action Team for a spay and neuter event with Asavet,” the Tucson Rescue Now shared in a Facebook post.
The non-profit organization also shared that the Tucson Action Team to Advocate for Dogs was able to spay/neuter a total of 31 dogs during the event.
KGUN reports that the dog advocacy group plans to host more pop-up clinics in the future.
“If we’re doing spay and neuter clinics every day, that means we’ve done our job well,” said Bultman.