Posted: July 23, 2009, 3 a.m. EDT
Los Angeles residents who earn less than $40,000 per year can have their cats neutered for $35, or spayed for $40 at Clinico. |
Clinico, a nonprofit organization that provides low-cost spay and neuter services in an effort to reduce the number of animals that end up in shelters, has opened its first spay and neuter clinic in Los Angeles.
“Basically it’s the only way to control the euthanization rate within the shelters,” said Michael Gilman, director of communications for Found Animals Foundation Inc., the organization that funded the new clinic and its services in cooperation with PetSmart Charities Inc. “People are leaving pets behind with foreclosures. If they don’t get adopted they’re just euthanized for lack of a home.”
According to Gilman, during spring and summer, the numbers of puppies and kittens coming in to the shelters increases dramatically.
"Right now it’s high kitten and puppy season,” he said. “When unweaned cats or kittens end up in the shelters, they need foster care. ... The best solution is spay and neuter. It will cut down on the animals that are just left out there.”
At the time of surgery, the clinic will also offer pain medication, vaccinations, flea and tick treatment, ear mite treatment, microchipping and feline leukemia and FIV testing for cats.
Los Angeles residents who earn less than $40,000 per year can have their cats neutered for $35 or spayed for $45. The cost to neuter a dog is $50 and a canine spay surgery is offered for $70.
Clinico has another location in Downey/Pico Rivera, outside Los Angeles.