Retired game show host Bob Barker used to end every broadcast by reminding viewers, “Help control the pet population. Have your pet spayed or neutered.”
Over the weekend, the Flin Flon, Creighton and Area SPCA helped 51 area pet owners do just that.
A mobile veterinary clinic was set up outside the Flin Flon Community Hall on Saturday, Sept. 23 and Sunday, Sept. 24.
The SPCA, with help from a Northern Neighbours Foundation grant, subsidized the cost of having dogs and cats spayed or neutered.
Carmen Ward, an SPCA volunteer and organizer of the clinic, says cost is a major barrier to having pets undergo the surgery.
“I think it’s probably the biggest setback [for pet owners],” she said.
Ward says education is another obstacle. She says spaying or neutering a pet not only helps control the pet population, but also has health benefits for the animals.
During the two-day clinic, low-income pet owners paid $100 for the surgery for a dog
and $75 for a cat, far lower than the standard price range of $250 to $400.
The SPCA offers these rates to low-income pet owners year-round. Pet owners who are on disability benefits or social assistance can access the surgery at no cost.
Other pet owners who stopped by over the weekend paid reduced rates of $200 for a female dog,
$175 for a male dog and $150 for a cat.
Dr. Keri Hudson Reykdal of Ashern, Manitoba, performed the surgeries out of her mobile clinic. It was the mobile clinic’s first trip to Flin Flon.
Ward says the two-day campaign was a success, adding the SPCA hopes to bring the mobile unit to the community on a
yearly basis.
