The next Serving Pets Outreach Team’s (SPOT) spay and neuter transport through the Brown County Humane Society is on the books for Thursday. They take place twice a month, but space is limited.
Female cats can begin breeding at as early as four months old and dogs at six months, but can be spayed or neutered around eight weeks old. “It is important to get them fixed before they breed,” according to the Brown County Humane Society.
SPOT has spayed or neutered around 10,000 pets since its inception in 2009, with 9,516 as of February.
The 10,000th pet will be in tomorrow’s transport, according to SPOT. To celebrate and acknowledge the event, the humane society will have a banner outside the building. They will also be giving out “a little goodie bag to the dogs and cats during the returns to take home, letting them know they were a part of the 10,000th pet transport,” Brown County Humane Society’s community relations manager Megan Gushwa said.
The transport is scheduled to return for pickup at 7 p.m. Thursday.
In addition, SPOT is offering, 50% off spay and neuter surgeries “through the end of 2024 in celebration of the 10,000th pet being fixed”.
Interested parties can contact the SPOT coordinator at (812) 703-0797 to schedule the surgery date.
“The 50 percent will only count toward the cost of the surgery and any needed vaccines or added services would be full price,” Gushwa said. “This is valid for Brown County residents only and is only good for the remaining transports in 2024. Our SPOT program makes no money off of these transports and we only charge exactly what we are charged by the spay and neuter clinics. The discounted fee will be covered by generous donors to our SPOT program. This is open to dogs and cats and we do offer a feral cat package for those cats who are not indoor house cats.”
The SPOT team also offers temporary pet food assistance, supplies, housing, enclosures to get dogs off chains, a yearly low-cost rabies and vaccine clinic and trap-neuter-return (TNR) for feral cats.
For people with feral cats on their property, SPOT can provide traps and assist with catching the cats to get them spayed or neutered. After the surgery, they will be returned to their original location, but will need caregivers to oversee their colony. More information about services SPOT offers to Brown County residents can be found on the humane society’s website at bchumane.org/community-assistance/.
Donations for the Brown County Humane Society or SPOT also can be made online at bchumane.org/donate-now-save-life/.
