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Spay and Neuter Information
Thank you for making the responsible decision to have your companion animal neutered!
While many may think that over-crowded shelters are a thing of the past, every year between 6 and 8 Million dogs and cats enter shelters. It is estimated that there are not homes for almost half of them. Spaying and neutering your pets is an easy way to help them live a longer and healthier life. It also helps to stop the severe pet overpopulation problem. We've put together the following local resources to help you find low cost spay and neuter providers, financial assistance, ideas on how you can help, and Spay/Neuter events in our area.
Local Low Cost Spay/Neuter Clinics - Vermont
Local Low Cost Spay/Neuter Clinics - Upstate NY
Financial Assistance for Spay/Neuter
How You Can Help
How We Can Help
Top Three Reasons to Spay/Neuter Your Pet
Benefits of Spaying and Neutering
Common Myths about Spaying and Neutering
Local Low Cost Spay/Neuter Clinics - Vermont
Cat Spay/Neuter Clinic
3619 Roosevelt Hwy
Colchester, VT 05446
802-878-2230
The Cat Spay/Neuter Clinic in Colchester, VT is a great deal and provides excellent service. It has been in operation for more than seventeen years and has "fixed" more than 53,000 kitties! The cost for spay or neuter (including rabies and distemper vaccinations) is just $50 as of October 25, 2012. Cats who are receiving their vaccinations for the first time MUST get a 2nd booster shot within 3-5 weeks for it to be effective. For more information or to set up an appointment, please call the clinic directly. You cannot set up an appointment via e-mail or through GMAD's website since the clinic is a separate entity.
VT-CAN! Vermont Companion Animal Neutering Inc.
19A Bailey Meadows Rd
Middlesex, VT 05602
802-223-0034
VT-CAN! wants to help people have their animals spayed or neutered. VT-CAN! offers low cost spay/neuter for people who CANNOT afford to go to a full service veterinarian because of income or because they have numerous animals. VT-CAN! is open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 7:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. Please call 802-223-0034 to schedule an appointment.
Frontier Animal Society
Orleans, VT 802-334-7888
Orleans County, cats only
Riverside Rescue
Gilman, VT 802-892-5300
Essex County
Second Chance Animal Shelter
P.O. Box 620
Shaftsbury, VT
802-375-2898
Dr. Stevenson
North Hyde Park, VT
800-644-7756
Windham County Humane Society
916 West River Road
PO Box 397
Brattleboro, VT 05302
802-254-2232
Holds monthly spay/neuter clinics at the shelter
More Vermont Low Cost Spay & Neuter Clinics
Local Low Cost Spay/Neuter Clinics - Upstate NY
Red Fern Spay Neuter Mobile Clinic
Dr. Stacey Lambrinos DVM
Mon and Wed Plattsburgh N.Y
Fri Saranac Lake
Call 518-645-0178 to schedule an appt.
Financial Assistance for Spay/Neuter
Vermont Spay Neuter Incentive Program - VSNIP
19A Bailey Meadows Rd
Middlesex, VT 05602
To receive an application for assistance call or 855-47-VSNIP (855-478-7647)
VSNIP Website
VSNIP enables income eligible people that provide care for cats and dogs to receive financial assistance in which to have these animals neutered and vaccinated.
This fund allows those on social assistance programs, such as SSI, Food Stamps, Section 8, Medicaid, etc., to obtain financial assistance for these important procedures. The associated costs for vaccinations and surgery are reduced at the participating offices, and the fees are paid to the veterinarians through the designated fund. Clients are responsible for a co-payment for each animal. As of Nov-09, the co-pay is $25, check the VSNIP website for current information.
Alleys Animals
Spay/Neuter Fund
802-598-3263
Alley's Animals has a fund that she uses to help people who may otherwise not be able to spay or neuter their pets and who do not qualify for VSNIP.
Other Assistance
For spay/neuter assistance programs in other areas, please visit: www.pets911.com or call 1-800-248-SPAY (1-800-248-7729).
How You Can Help:
By sponsoring a cat or kitten. Your donation of $35 will provide for their spay or neuter and all necessary shots. Upon request you can receive a photo of the kitty you sponsor. A donation of $40 will sponsor the subsidized spay or neuter of a dog. A donation of any amount can be applied toward either one at your request.
How We Can Help
Please email GMAD or call us at 802-861-3030 anytime you have questions regarding spaying and neutering, whether they have to do with low cost options, the availability of coupons, or just general questions. We are more than happy to assist you in any way we can.
Top Three Reasons to Spay/Neuter Your Pet
- It reduces dog and cat overpopulation. There is an unprecedented surplus of companion animals and shelters are forced to euthanize. The surplus is in the millions in the United States. Cats are 45 times as prolific, and dogs 15 times as prolific, as humans. They need our help to reduce their numbers so there will be good homes for them all.
- Spaying or neutering your cat or dog will increase their chance of a longer and healthier life. Altering your canine friend will increase his or her life an average of 1 to 3 years, and for your feline friend, the additional increase is 3 to 5 years. Altered animals have a very low to no risk of mammary gland cancer, prostate cancer, the infection known as pyometria, as well as uterine, ovarian and testicular cancers.
- Altering your cats & dogs makes them better pets by reducing their urge to roam and decreases the risk of contracting diseases or being hit by a car. Surveys indicate that as many as 85% of dogs hit by cars are unaltered. Intact male cats living outside have been shown to live on average less than two years. Feline Leukemia and FIV is spread by bites, making intact cats a great deal more susceptible than altered cats.
Benefits of Spaying and Neutering
Benefits of Spaying (Females)
- No heat cycles, therefore males will not be attracted
- Less desire to roam
- Risk of mammary gland tumors, ovarian and/or uterine cancer is reduced or eliminated, especially if done before the first heat cycle
- Reduces number of homeless cats/kittens/dogs/puppies
- Helps dogs and cats live longer, healthier lives
Benefits of Neutering (Males)
- Reduces or eliminates risk of spraying and marking
- Less desire to roam, therefore less likely to be injured in fights or auto accidents
- Risk of testicular cancer is eliminated, and decreases incidence of prostate disease
- Reduces number of unwanted cats/kittens/dogs/puppies
- Decreases aggressive behavior, including dog bites
- Helps dogs and cats live longer, healthier lives
Additional Benefits
- The community will also benefit. Unwanted animals are becoming a very real concern in many places. Stray animals can easily become a public nuisance, soiling parks and streets, ruining shrubbery, frightening children and elderly people, creating noise and other disturbances, causing automobile accidents, and sometimes even killing livestock or other pets.
The American Veterinary Medical Association
- The capture, impoundment and eventual destruction of unwanted animals costs taxpayers and private humanitarian agencies over a billion dollars each year. As a potential source of rabies and other less serious diseases, they can be a public health hazard.
The American Veterinary Medical Association
Common Myths about Spaying and Neutering
MYTH: My pet will get fat and lazy.
FACT: The truth is that most pets get fat and lazy because their owners feed them too much and don't give them enough exercise.
MYTH: It's better to have one litter first.
FACT: Medical evidence indicates just the opposite. In fact, the evidence shows that females spayed before their first heat are typically healthier. Many veterinarians now sterilize dogs and cats as young as eight weeks of age. Check with your veterinarian about the appropriate time for these procedures.
MYTH: My children should experience the miracle of birth.
FACT: Even if children are able to see a pet give birth?which is unlikely, since it usually occurs at night and in seclusion?the lesson they will really learn is that animals can be created and discarded as it suits adults. Instead, it should be explained to children that the real miracle is life and that preventing the birth of some pets can save the lives of others.
MYTH: But my pet is a purebred.
FACT: So is at least one out of every four pets brought to animal shelters around the country. There are just too many dogs and cats?mixed breed and purebred.
MYTH: I want my dog to be protective.
FACT: Spaying or neutering does not affect a dog's natural instinct to protect home and family. A dog's personality is formed more by genetics and environment than by sex hormones.
MYTH: I don't want my male dog or cat to feel like less of a male.
FACT: Pets don't have any concept of sexual identity or ego. Neutering will not change a pet's basic personality. He doesn't suffer an emotional reaction or identity crisis when neutered.
MYTH: But my dog (or cat) is so special, I want a puppy (or kitten) just like her.
FACT: A dog or cat may be a great pet, but that doesn't mean her offspring will be a carbon copy. Professional animal breeders who follow generations of bloodlines can't guarantee they will get just what they want out of a particular litter. A pet owner's chances are even slimmer. In fact, an entire litter of puppies or kittens might receive all of a pet's (and her mate's) worst characteristics.
MYTH: It's too expensive to have my pet spayed or neutered.
FACT: The cost of spaying or neutering depends on the sex, size, and age of the pet, your veterinarian's fees, and a number of other variables. But whatever the actual price, spay or neuter surgery is a one-time cost?a relatively small cost when compared to all the benefits. It's a bargain compared to the cost of having a litter and ensuring the health of the mother and litter. Most importantly, it's a very small price to pay for the prevention of more unwanted pets.
MYTH: I'll find good homes for all the puppies and kittens.
FACT: You may find homes for all of your pet's litter. But each home you find means one less home for the dogs and cats in shelters who need good homes. Also, in less than one year's time, each of your pet's offspring may have his or her own litter, adding even more animals to the population. The problem of pet overpopulation is created and perpetuated one litter at a time.
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