Program reaches milestone after launching on April 1, 2021.
San Diego, May 9, 2022 – The Spay-Neuter Action Project announced that SNAP North has turned one. As the program enters its second year of operation, Escondido, Fallbrook, Oceanside, Ramona, Tribal Nations, Valley Center, and the house rabbit community, continue to benefit greatly from affordable spay-neuter clinics held regularly on the new Neuter Scooter surgical bus.
Every location under SNAP needs assistance; however, the unincorporated areas of our county are the primary victims of pet overpopulation. SNAP served the region in prior years using the original Neuter Scooter surgical bus, but it was clear that the aging vehicle in service since 2003, was losing the bandwidth needed to maneuver steep terrains common to most unincorporated areas and longer-distance travel was becoming a safety issue. During year two of the pandemic, requests for surgeries from pet owners in the now established SNAP North service range became substantial and sustained, and partner organizations voiced concerns over the growing populations of stray dogs and cats. Therefore, the SNAP Board of Directors voted to deploy the new Neuter Scooter further north and transition the original Neuter Scooter into a stationary clinic site on donated land in East County.
SNAP has been an affordable spay-neuter provider since 2003, delivering services where needed most. Up to 20 clinics are held each month throughout the region for an average of 600 surgeries. The modest fees are $20 to $100 per procedure, depending on species, weight, and gender. SNAPs generous spay-neuter package at time of surgery includes a general health exam, nail trimming, flea/tick treatment, deworming, pain medication, rabies vaccination, recovery collars for dogs and female cats, and cardboard carriers for cats that need one. Loose teeth extractions and wound care are also available, when needed, and for a nominal fee, the surgeons neuter animals with cryptorchidism, repair simple hernias, and implant microchips. A one-year license is available for pets who qualify by zip code. For a limited time, lifesaving DAPPv vaccines for dogs and HCP vaccines for cats, donated by Petco Love, are administered at no charge.
“We were not aware at the time that the new Neuter Scooter, made possible in 2020 by a matching capital grant from PetSmart Charities and a successful capital campaign, would function as a second surgical unit instead of replacing the original Neuter Scooter, as planned,” said Dorell Sackett, SNAP Executive Director. She expressed gratitude for having two surgical units working in tandem in different parts of the county to further reduce the birthrate and needless suffering of unwanted litters, the hallmark of the organization. Over 70,000 dogs, cats, and rabbits have been sterilized to date.
SNAP wishes to publicly thank the medical team and surgery appointment schedulers for their dedication to SNAP North.
About SNAP
SNAP became a registered non-profit in 1996. It is recognized as the first organization in the San Diego region to implement programs to reduce the number of companion animals killed annually in the shelter system. SNAP remains the only affordable spay and neuter provider since 2003, to bring the veterinary office directly to communities with high shelter intakes. We have fixed over 65,000 cats and dogs to date. Please visit www.snap-sandiego.org to learn more or follow SNAP on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up with their latest activities.