Starting May 1, East Padden Animal Hospital will partner with Cherish the Animals to perform up to four complimentary spay/neuter surgeries on local feral cats, in lieu of Alley Cat Rescue’s annual worldwide May Spay Challenge.
Since its launch in 2010, over 1,200 veterinary clinics from 45 US states, Canada, South Africa, Israel and Croatia have joined the May Spay Challenge, sterilizing more than 40,000 community cats. This annual event is a campaign created by Alley Cat Rescue, an alliance for cat protection located just outside of Washington, D.C. Alley Cat Rescue is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the welfare of all cats: domestic, stray, feral and wild.
Our challenge partner, Cherish the Animals, is a local nonprofit organization that practices TNR, or trap-neuter-return. TNR is the humane management of feral cat colonies, where cats are caught in traps, spayed/neutered, vaccinated, ear-tipped, and returned to their outdoor homes after recovering from surgery. TNR stabilizes populations at manageable levels and eliminates common neighborhood complaints regarding mating behaviors, like spraying and fighting. By assisting Cherish the Animals in performing TNR, East Padden Animal Hospital is proactively addressing the issue of cat overpopulation before kittens are born to face uncertain circumstances in the wild, or at overcrowded shelters.
“TNR stops the breeding cycle more effectively than catch-and-kill. In catch-and-kill, other cats will enter the vacated territory and start breeding all over again. Spay and neuter is the key to reducing outdoor cat populations, as well as shelter euthanasia,” says Louise Holton, president of Alley Cat Rescue.
Over 3.2 million cats enter US shelters each year, and sadly 3 in 10 of these animals will be euthanized. Our hospital, in partnership with Alley Cat Rescue and Cherish the Animals hope to decrease these numbers by helping to sterilize cats living outdoors.
To learn more about Alley Cat Rescue and the May Spay Challenge, visit www.saveacat.org.