By Kirsti Marohn and Amy Bowen, USA TODAY
Veterinarian Meghann Kruck began offering low-cost spaying and neutering of pets in May at a mobile clinic in Golden Valley, Minn. She said she's already getting nearly 100 inquiries a day and quickly filling up appointments.
One of three such clinics in Minnesota's Twin Cities area, the Kindest Cut charges $40 for neutering and $50 for spaying cats of low-income owners. The clinic is sponsored by MnPAW, a group of animal-welfare organizations in Minnesota.
"I'm hoping it'll promote responsible pet ownership," Kruck said. "Overall, we really want it to eliminate pet overpopulation."
A growing number of animal advocates and local communities are stepping up efforts to curb the overpopulation of cats by offering low-cost or free spaying and neutering.
Stephen Zawistowski, science adviser for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, says a number of factors are contributing to the booming cat population, including a rise in pet ownership that often leads to cats being abandoned, more suburban yards that provide ideal habitat for feral cats and fewer stray dogs that chased or killed cats in the past.
An unspayed female can give birth to up to four litters with six to eight kittens each a year, according to Kim Saunders, vice president of shelter outreach and public relations for the pet adoption website Petfinder.com.
In May, Petfinder posted 143,923 cats ready for adoption throughout the United States and Canada. That number will continue to climb as summer progresses and more litters are born, said Saunders of Union, N.J.
"It is one the biggest issues shelters are facing," she said. "The cat problem is nowhere near under control."
Experts say sterilization is essential to curbing the exploding cat population, and many contend it can also help alleviate behavioral and medical issues among felines.
For many people, "cost is absolutely one of the main obstacles," said Aimee Christian, vice president of spay-neuter operations for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Some programs provide vouchers that can be redeemed at a local veterinarian for spay or neuter surgery to reduce or even eliminate that cost. Some organizations also operate mobile clinics that travel to low-income or rural areas where people aren't able to transport their cat to the vet.
In Los Angeles, the Coalition for Pets & Public Safety's mobile clinic sterilizes about 5,000 dogs and cats annually. The organization recently purchased a second unit, said the coalition's Pamela Wilkinson.
"The need is extensive, and L.A. is large," she said. The units travel to low-income neighborhoods, shopping centers, senior centers and homeless shelters and spay and neuter pets and feral cats, Wilkinson said.
Veterinarians say unaltered cats are more likely to roam and act aggressively, spray urine and suffer from health issues such as reproductive cancer.
Elsewhere:
•In May, the ASPCA opened a low-cost spay and neuter clinic primarily for cats in Queens, N.Y. ASPCA also has mobile clinics that offer free or low-cost services in poor areas where people might not have access to veterinary services, Christian said.
"Very often their trip to the mobile unit is their pet's first trip to the clinic at all," she said.
•The Capital Area Humane Society in Franklin County, Ohio, operates a program called AdvoCAT that provides vouchers for a free sterilization at a local vet. Last year, 358 vouchers were redeemed, said Tom Barry, executive director. The organization is seeking funding to expand the program.
•The Cat Network of South Florida operates a mobile clinic called Miami Meow Mobile, which sterilizes about 2,500 cats every year, said Jill Steinberg, secretary of the group's board of directors. Its goal is to sterilize all of the estimated 3,000 cats on Miami Beach within three or four years, Steinberg said.
The organization also provides low-cost sterilizations for the estimated 500,000 free-roaming cats in Miami-Dade County, she says.
Some wildlife advocates oppose programs that trap, sterilize and return feral cats because they don't believe the cats should be released to cause problems for birds and other wildlife.
"It can make the problem even worse," said Robert Johns, spokesman for the non-profit American Bird Conservancy. He says the programs fail to capture and sterilize all the cats in a colony, so the colonies expand and become dumping grounds for unwanted pets.
The conservancy estimates that each year, outdoor cats kill 500 million birds and are responsible for the extinctions of 33 bird species.
Christian said trap-and-release programs are the most humane way to reduce the cat population over time. People wouldn't volunteer to trap cats if they thought the animals were going to be killed, she said.
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