The ASPCA’s $300,000 sponsorship of the Humane Alliance of Western North Carolina’s National Spay/Neuter Response Team will help the program open 12 spay and neuter clinics across the country. The sponsorship also will help the alliance operate a training program and provide mentors to other organizations.
ASPCA president Ed Sayres presented the funds to Humane Alliance director Quita Mazzina at the Humane Society of Catawba County in Hickory, N.C. The shelter will operate one of the model spay/neuter clinics and serve as a multipurpose animal welfare facility, the ASPCA said. The shelter, currently under construction, was made possible through a $400,000 pledge from NASCAR driver Ryan Newman’s foundation. Ryan Newman and his wife, Krissie, are national spokespeople for the Humane Alliance’s National Spay/Neuter Response Team.
Since its inception 12 years ago, the Humane Alliance of Western North Carolina has sterilized 180,000 cats, dogs and other pets and reduced the euthanasia rate in Asheville by 72 percent. The alliance has mentored 21 organizations throughout the United States to help them implement its high-volume spay/neuter model.