Bringing Much-Needed Veterinarian Services To Taos County
Since the COVID pandemic, when our local vets had to reduce spay/neuter appointments and people were staying home and not getting animals fixed, Taos County has been overwhelmed with litter after litter of excess births, many of which are now homeless strays. As the community leader in spay/neuter for cats, Taos Feral Feline Friends knows that spay/neuter activity must significantly increase in order to address the problem. However, the number of practicing local veterinarians in Taos County has not kept pace with the surge in demand for spay/neuter - in fact, vet capacity in the county is lower now than at any point in the past twenty years! Spay/neuter vet appointments are often booked-up three months in advance, an inconvenient disincentive for many pet owners. And delays in getting appointments often lead to 'accidental' litters.... cat and dog moms give birth when they're ready... not when it's convenient!
Yes, spay/neuter is the answer to overpopulation! But it won't succeed without an ample supply of affordable spay/neuter appointments in Taos County. That's why we started the Spay/Neuter Clinic Program - to build veterinary capacity, to insure every cat and every dog in Taos County benefits from free spay/neuter. We are contracting with vets from all over New Mexico, bringing them to Taos for one-day or two-day free spay/neuter clinics. Everyone can participate: residents of the town of Taos, county of Taos, Taos and Picuris Puebloes... all are welcome! But it's not just spay/neuter... vaccinations, disease screenings and micro-chipping are all part of the program and included for free!
We are evaluating hiring mobile vets who'll bring their own mobile vans to Taos or opening up a storefront vet clinic in Taos, but the most promising option is using a mobile vet van, purchased by Taos County, to bring all-day spay/neuter clinics to Taos and outlying communities. In partnership with the Taos County Sheriff's Office, we hope to operate thirty one-day clinics during the first twelve months and then double that for the next two years.
This program is our top priority. We have committed funding to complete at least 100 clinics over three years, each clinic serving 20 - 25 cats and dogs. In addition, we are earmarking all donations to TFFF from 9/1/2023 through 12/31/2024 to the Spay/Neuter Clinic Program - every dollar, every penny we receive will be exclusively dedicated to funding spay/neuter. To accumulate and segregate spay/neuter donations, a new bank account has been established, separate from the TFFF general account and we will report separate, detailed financial data for the Spay/Neuter Clinic Program beginning 2023. As always, full transparency is not our goal... it's our guarantee!
All-inclusive free spay/neuter, not just for cats, but for dogs too, is a big undertaking for TFFF, To enable our success, Donna Karr, former head of the Board of Directors and Executive Director of Stray Hearts, has joined our management team as Spay/Neuter Clinic Program Director. In addition to her years running the county's largest animal welfare organization, Donna has invaluable experience planning and operating mobile veterinary clinics.
We need your support! The more donations, the more clinics we can offer. And, if we can accumulate enough funding, the possibility of opening a full-time clinic offering free spay/neuter and general vet care at discount prices can become a reality. You shouldn't have to be wealthy to give your pets the vet care they truly need!