San Diego, January 1, 2018 – The Spay-Neuter Action Project of San Diego (SNAP), today announced its receipt of a $50,000 grant from PetSmart Charities, the leading funder of animal welfare in North America, to provide spay/neuter services in the southern-most part of San Diego County, at an unprecedented, free of charge.
SNAP is a nonprofit organization that formed in 1990, to reduce the number of companion animals entering City and County-run shelters from low-income communities struggling with pet overpopulation. The organization published the region’s first referral guide of affordable spay/neuter providers in San Diego County, then became an actual affordable spay/neuter provider in 2003 for greater community impact. Surgeries are performed by fully trained and California State licensed veterinarians with support from credentialed medical staff in the hospital-grade operating suite located inside the “Neuter Scooter” surgical bus, that travels to targeted communities that may not readily have access to pet health and wellness care. To date, the program has provided over 60,000 cat and dog spay/neuter surgeries.
The investment from PetSmart Charities will cover the average per surgery cost to SNAP for over 700 companion animals residing in Otay Mesa and newly-added San Ysidro, combined.
“Due to budget constraints, Otay Mesa has only been served intermittently in the past three years, and because of the irregularity, any progress has been negligible” said Dorell Sackett, SNAP’s executive director. “Because of funding, we can now make a concerted effort to decrease the number of unwanted litters born to suffer in this region, with two clinics per month for an entire year. Funding also allows procedures to be offered free of charge to all residents of these communities, as an added incentive to spay or neuter.”
“At PetSmart Charities, we understand the difficult decisions many pet parents face when financial challenges arise, and this project’s free spay/neuter services will provide much needed support to communities where these services may not be financially feasible,” added Jenny Aho, regional relationship manager at PetSmart Charities. “We are thrilled to support SNAP in its efforts to both reduce the area’s pet overpopulation issue, and make pet health and wellness services accessible to the larger community.”
SNAP publicly thanks PetSmart Charities for believing in the work that they do through this phenomenal grant award. SNAP also thanks Councilmember David Alvarez, District 8, for supporting the grant application to help constituents with companion animals in his jurisdiction. For more information about SNAP or PetSmart Charities, please visit www.snap-sandiego.org or www.petsmartcharities.org. Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or by using #PetSmartCharities and #SNAPsandiego.
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About PetSmart Charities®
PetSmart Charities, Inc. is a nonprofit animal welfare organization with a mission to find lifelong, loving homes for all pets by supporting programs and thought leadership that bring people and pets together. In addition to finding homes for almost 500,000 shelter pets each year through its in-store adoption program in all PetSmart stores across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, PetSmart Charities provides funding to nonprofits aligned with its mission through four key areas of grant support: Preventing Pet Homelessness; Helping Shelter Pets Thrive; Supporting the Bond Between People and Pets; and Emergency Relief and Disaster Support. Each year, millions of generous PetSmart shoppers help pets in need by donating to PetSmart Charities using the pin pads at checkout registers inside PetSmart stores. In turn, PetSmart Charities efficiently uses 90 cents of every dollar donated and has become the leading funder of animal welfare in North America, donating about $300 million to date. PetSmart Charities, a 501(c)(3) organization, has received the Four-Star Rating from Charity Navigator, an independent organization that reports on the effectiveness, accountability and transparency of nonprofits, for the past 14 years in a row — placing it among the top one percent of charities rated by this organization. To learn more visit www.petsmartcharities.org
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