I think we all know that Rescue efforts alone will never solve
the surplus of unwanted animals. Getting out the Spay/Neuter
message & education is key in helping all animals. This is an
article from today's Indy paper that makes me feel hopeful.
Spay-neuter clinic nears its 50,000th sterilization
By Jon Murray
[email protected]
January 31, 2004
From prep room to surgical room to recovery room, about 50 dogs and cats a day cycle through the FACE spay-neuter clinic.
It's an assembly line, Executive Director Ellen Robinson acknowledges, but one with heart.
And next week, less than five years after the Near-Eastside nonprofit clinic opened, FACE -- short for Foundation Against Companion Animal Euthanasia -- will perform its 50,000th low-cost sterilization.
Its founders, Scott and Ellen Robinson, joined the high-volume spay and neuter business to curb the flow of unwanted pets that clogs Indianapolis animal shelters -- and results in 20,000 cases of euthanasias each year.
"Nothing else is going to make nearly as much of an impact," Scott Robinson said.
Indianapolis kills 22.7 animals per 1,000 residents, according to a study last year by Animal People magazine, and is on par with many Midwestern and Southern cities. The rate is considerably lower on the West Coast and in the Northeast, with Rochester, N.Y., near the top at 6.3.
So far, the effect of Indianapolis' only established high-volume sterilization clinic has been encouraging, and customers must wait several weeks for an appointment.
"They've reached 50,000 faster than almost any other clinic," said Merritt Clifton, who is Animal People's editor and has written about FACE.
For a couple of years after FACE opened, both the city's Animal Care and Control shelter and the Humane Society of Indianapolis took in fewer animals. But last year, their combined intake increased by about 250 to 30,866 -- a blip, Scott Robinson hopes, in a downward trend.
"Every animal that's spayed or neutered helps, in some way, shape or form," said Margie Smith-Simmons, community outreach director for Animal Care and Control. "(FACE) offers an option that wasn't there before."
There are clinics like FACE in some other cities, Clifton said, but the Indianapolis clinic has a much lower rate of after-surgery complication. He attributes this to the careful approach brought to the clinic by Scott Robinson, who is also an emergency room doctor at Putnam County Hospital in Greencastle.
"It's astonishing," Clifton said. "There are people going there to see what (FACE is) doing to avoid all these problems."
A $320,000 addition to FACE's clinic will open next month, nearly doubling the size of the building at 1505 Massachusetts Ave. Scott Robinson says the clinic may be able to increase sterilizations from 10,000 a year to 15,000 with the added space.
The clinic cost $781,000 to run last year, he said, with much of it coming from fees charged for vaccinations and sterilizations.
FACE charges $20 or less to spay or neuter a cat, and dogs less than 70 pounds cost $20 to $30 -- less than half of what many veterinarians charge.
"We lose money on every surgery we do," Ellen Robinson said. The clinic encourages clients who can afford it to donate more.
Julie Smith founded IndyPets Alive with her husband, Eric, in 2002 to try to reduce the use of euthanasia at shelters. They also founded the Indiana Companion Animal Network, which last year began spaying and neutering cats.
FACE and other low-cost providers have helped combat Indianapolis' unwanted-pet problem, she said, and made owners more aware of the importance of sterilization.
"You could have a low-cost spay-neuter clinic on every corner of town and it would not be too much," Smith said. "There is that much of a need."
Call Star reporter Jon Murray at (317) 444-6033.
Costs at FACE
The FACE low-cost spay and neuter clinic, 1505 Massachusetts Ave., requires an appointment several weeks in advance. Mondays through Thursdays, customers drop off their cats or dogs between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. and pick them up after 3 p.m.
Costs for spaying and neutering:
• Cats: $15 to $20
• Male dogs: $20 to $25
• Female dogs under 70 pounds: $25 to $30
• Female dogs over 70 pounds: $40 to $55
The clinic also offers low-cost vaccinations for pets.
For more information, call (317) 638-3223.
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