Courtesy: CHAT Newsroom

By Angela Kazmierczak

Free spay-neuter program offered to reduce overpopulation of cats and dogs

Feb 24, 2023 | 4:26 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Within seven years, an unspayed female cat and her offspring can produce over three hundred thousand kittens.

Aware of how quickly cats, including dogs, can repopulate, the Medicine Hat SPCA offers the Spay-Neuter Assistance Program (SNAP).

The SNAP program first started two years ago, after SPCA witnessed an overpopulation of cats.

The goal of the program is to help families in a low income bracket to spay or neuter their pet or pets, seeing it can be overwhelming on staff and the cats and dogs in the shelters.

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Linda Tooth, the Vice President of Medicine Hat’s SPCA, says it’s important that an increase in spays and neuters occurs, as it reduces demands on shelters and rescue intakes.

Tooth adds that the program is also a way to help families keep their pets and afford the expenses of microchipping and spaying.

“Ideally we want to keep the pets with their owners, keep them at home, and it’s just a way for us to do that, and just control that pet population because we do have a lot of cats that come in with kittens, and this is just one way we can help promote the curbing of that overpopulation,” said Tooth.

“It’s a great way for people who may not be able to afford the actual cost of the event to actually take advantage of the program,” she said.

Tooth hopes the program, which is in partnership with the City of Medicine Hat and local vets, will curb the upcoming kitten season.

Those interested can fill out an application at the SPCA or register online here.