BONNYVILLE – The spay and neuter clinic is coming back to the MD of Bonnyville for another year.
The Bonnyville and District SPCA is hosting the spay and neuter clinic for a second year on Sept. 24, this time focusing on stray cats from the Ardmore area.
“Instead of accepting cats from all around the MD, the way to have a better impact is to spay (and neuter) more cats in the same area,” detailed shelter manager Judith Rodriquez. “Then you have more chances to see results earlier so we’re going to try and do males and females from the Ardmore area.”
Rodriquez stressed the program is “focused on barn or feral cats, not for pets.”
“Pets can be taken care of by the owners but barn cats are working for the community by trying to keep the mice population low,” she continued. “If somebody wants their pet to be done, it’s not going to qualify.”
The program was originally started by MD resident Silke Skinner in 2018 to address the overpopulation of felines within the municipality. Through the clinic, 56 cats were spayed or neutered in the first year. MD of Bonnyville council saw the program's merit and decided it was worth continuing.
“Originally it was handled privately through a group of volunteers, and then we passed it over to the Bonnyville SPCA because they have the ability to leverage the funds and get grants to expand on it,” detailed Reeve Greg Sawchuk, adding the municipality provides $5,000 in funding for the spay and neuter clinic.
“It still appears to be an issue out there, and from what we understood in the initial presentations from the vets, is that it takes a few years before you start seeing results from it. So that's what we’re hoping for.”
There were seven males and 30 female cats that were spayed and neutered last year.
When it came to deciding what area to focus on this year, Rodriguez said Ardmore jumped to the top of the list.
“It proved to be one of the biggest issue areas and one of our (biggest) providers of cats coming to the shelter,” she explained.
Although there isn’t an official cap on the number of cats that can be done this year, Rodriguez noted it will depend on which specific cats come in.
“The surgery is much faster for the guys then the girls. If we have like 50 per cent females and 50 per cent males, it’s not what the vets are looking for because they take longer to do surgery for the females and they want to move fast.”
According to Rodriguez, the area they accept applications from could be expanded if they don’t receive enough from Ardmore.
Applications are being accepted by email only this year, and anyone approved for the clinic will be contacted. An address within the Ardmore area must be included and between two to four cats can be brought in.
“They will get an appointment to drop off the cat, the cats will go to the vet, and then come back to the shelter afterwards. They will be sent back home the same day,” noted Rodriguez.
To submit an application, email [email protected].
