More low-cost spay/neuter clinics coming to Lake County in 2025
- LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS
- Posted On
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Next year, a new partnership amongst animal welfare organizations is planning to bring more low-cost spay/neuter clinics to Lake County.
Pet Fix – Lake County recently made its debut on Facebook, announcing badly needed affordable spay/neuter services for Lake County dog and cat owners.
Pet Fix is the result of a partnership between the Clearlake Animal Association, SPCA of Lake County and Dogwood Animal Rescue Project, based in Santa Rosa. All three organizations are 501 (c) 3 animal welfare nonprofits.
“The core team from the three nonprofits have been working on the logistics for these clinics with Animal Balance for a few months now, and are very pleased to be able to offer low-cost spay/neuter programs to the community,” said Charmaine Weldon, president of Clearlake Animal Association.
Animal Balance is a global organization that provides logistics and veterinary services in support of local low-cost spay/neuter clinics.
The first clinic is scheduled for February 2025 and will serve 200 cats and dogs. The plan is to hold five clinics during 2025, potentially serving hundreds more owned dogs and cats.
Spaying and neutering will considerably reduce the number of puppies and kittens and positively impact the pet overpopulation in Lake County.
“As a veterinarian holding spay-neuter clinics in Lake County since 2015, I'm so excited and proud for this coalition of Lake County animal groups to be coming together to increase the access to spay and neuter for all Lake County animals in 2025,” said Dr Jennifer Eisley DVM from Lake County SPCA.
“I am also thrilled that we are partnering with Animal Balance, a group with over 20 years of experience bringing spay-neuter campaigns to underserved communities internationally and nationally,” Eisley added. “These campaigns, plus the ongoing efforts of the SPCA of Lake County, will hopefully help us to make a bigger impact to improve the lives and health of Lake County Animals going forward.”
“Dogwood has long recognized the desperate need for low-cost spay/neuter in Lake County, we're thrilled to be partnering with Clearlake Animal Association and the SPCA to curb the overpopulation crisis and end suffering," said Charlotte Pearce, Dogwood Animal Rescue, co-founder and board member.
“What we are seeing,” said Denise Gilmer, administrator of the Clearlake Community Canine Coalition Facebook page, “is the number of loose, intact dogs with an increase during peak female heat seasons of spring and fall guarantees an increase in litters of puppies being posted for rehoming and reports of abandoned puppies on social media two to three months later.”
A recent survey of puppies needing homes, or found abandoned tallied 319 puppies from mid-August until Oct. 2, and that number is growing daily.
From December 2023 through April 2024, 1,355 individual loose dogs reported on social media in Lake County were counted by a Clearlake Animal Association volunteer.
That tally included 116 puppies and 12 nursing mothers. Only a few nursing mothers had puppies with them, indicating there were unidentified litters of puppies somewhere near where the mothers were sighted.
Over 60% of the loose dogs were observed within the approximately 10 square miles of the city of Clearlake.
“This is a community project and an example of what can be accomplished when local animal welfare organizations work together for solutions,” said Weldon. “Successful spay/neuter clinics depend on volunteers and donations.”
Volunteers can help make the day of a clinic go smoothly by helping with various jobs. Donations help offset the cost of the clinics.
Interested community members are encouraged to follow Pet Fix – Lake County on Facebook. There is a current call for volunteers to help at the upcoming clinics.
The minimum cost to support reduced-fee spay/neuter services is $37,000 per clinic. Pet Fix – Lake County aims to raise a total of $185,000 to fund all five clinics.
Donations to Pet Fix are being accepted through the Dogwood Animal Rescue Project at their website.