Putnam County Animal Shelter now offers a spay and neuter assistance program for low-income households with furry friends.
The program will help low-income families spay and neuter their pets, and officials hope it will also reduce the number of unwanted kittens and puppies admitted to the shelter.
Putnam County residents with fewer than three members in their household and an income less than $25,000, as well as households with four members or more and an income less than $35,000 will qualify for the program.
Chief Humane Officer Jon Davis said the program will be good both for Putnam residents and the shelter.
"We'll have regular individuals who bring in a litter of animals every spring and summer," Davis said. "A lot of times they just feel like they don't have time or they have a male dog and it's not their problem because they don't have to worry about their dog getting pregnant."
Davis said although male dogs obviously cannot get pregnant, it's important to be a responsible owner and neuter your pet so it cannot impregnate any females.
Help for Animals in Barboursville, a low-cost spay and neuter clinic, will be providing the spay/neuter services as well as a rabies shot if the animal needs one.
Typically, spaying a female cat or dog costs more than neutering a male, but prices can range from as low as $27 dollars at a low-cost clinic, to upwards of $300 dollars at a veterinarian or animal hospital.
This program is the only program in the area that completely covers all costs of the surgery and rabies vaccination for outside animals, according to Davis. Most programs will cover a majority of the costs but the pet owner has to cover a portion of the expense out of pocket.
The Putnam County spay/neuter assistance fund is sponsored by donations only; taxpayers will not see any of their money going toward this fund.
Over the past few years, the shelter has been saving money raised by its two major fundraisers: the Dog Jog 5k run in May and the Hot Diggity Dog 5k in November.
Davis said over the years, each fundraiser has raised up to $15,000 and has helped to start up the spay/neuter assistance program. The shelter also gladly accepts any donations residents would like to make towards the fund.
While this program will be positive for residents who can't afford to sterilize their pet, Davis acknowledged there are some risks he's looking out for.
Davis said one of his primary concerns is animals in hoarding situations. He doesn't want this program enable hoarders to take on more animals than they can afford or handle.
"That's something I'm really going to watch with the program," Davis said. "If there's a situation that raises a red flag, I will definitely have one of my humane officers check on the animals in question."
Davis said he hopes to soon be able to move the services from Barboursville to the shelter.
Brian Donat, Putnam County manager, said this program is something the county has desired for quite some time.
"I think that the county commissioners and myself, and those workers and volunteers at the shelter, we all share a love of animals and we hate to see any animal euthanized due to overpopulation," Donat said. "This is one way we can try to address the issue of overcrowding and overpopulation of our cats and dogs."
Donat said he hopes people use the program who otherwise would not have the means to fix their pet.
"We know times are tough and having your pet spayed or neutered might be something a lot of people would like to do but they don't have the money to do it," Donat said. "If this helps them make the decision and get their pets spayed or neutered so the overpopulation problem doesn't get worse - it's a great thing."
For more information about the Putnam County Spay/Neuter Fund, visit http://Facebook.com/PutnamCountyAnimalShelter.
Reach Laura Haight at laura.haight@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4843 or follow @laurahaight_ on Twitter.