First of all, let me remind you, that for almost any problem, issue, debate, or discussion, I can generally see a depressing amount of viewpoints, options, and shades of gray. It's a headache to me and probably everyone else who's ever met me, but there you have it.
Take for example my most recent dilemma: Should any group be allowed to adopt out unaltered animals?
This is where we get into shades and options and blah.
On one hand:
From their view, they got my kitten "out of their organization," they "knew she was going to a good home," they didn't have to cover any of her expenses anymore. Oh, and they got to keep my s/n deposit.
One someone else's hand:
Take for example my most recent dilemma: Should any group be allowed to adopt out unaltered animals?
This is where we get into shades and options and blah.
On one hand:
- There's probably no way I'd would send any animal under 4 months old to get spayed or neutered (s/ned).
- Whether I agree with this practice or not, there are organizations that just don't have the funds to s/n everything that they adopt out and so they rely on s/n deposits or some other kind of contractual obligation to try to enforce s/n.
- I've been told that Michigan law requires that a s/n deposit of at least $25 is charged upon adoption of an unaltered pet and that followup is the responsibility of the adopting shelter/organization. Those that do not comply can be prosecuted, adopters and organizations.
On the other hand:
- The last kitten I adopted (years ago), was allowed to come home when she was around 3 months old. They would only return my s/n deposit if I got her fixed in the next month, which I did not feel comfortable doing, because her vet and I wanted to wait until she was 6 months old.
- Who knew or would've thought that you could prosecute if one of the two parties failed to complete their end of the s/n commitment?
- How many really believe that your local law representatives are going to follow through with a complaint, either as a rescue, shelter, or individual? If the organization doesn't give you your s/n deposit back, if it's the state minimum $25, are you going to really raise a ruckus?
Did the organization that I adopted my last kitten from (which actually WAS her vet's office) contact me about her spay? No.
Did they follow up with me about her spay when I didn't send in the certificate to get my money back? No.
Did they try to take my kitten back from me when I didn't complete my end of the barging? No.
One someone else's hand:
- Who's going to donate to those organizations that can't afford to s/n their animals?
- What do you do about the animals that are too young or physically unfit some way? Do you keep the young animals until they're old enough? If so, where? What about those that can't be s/ned for medical reasons?
- What should happen to adopters who don't fulfill their obligation? I don't have any real idea as to what that consequence should be. I would think that the organization should remove their animal from the adopters home, since they failed to fulfill that contractual obligation.
- If your organization is going to utilize a spay/neuter deposit option - enforce it and give it teeth. Follow up on it, just to legally cover your butt, and have it clearly worded in you contract the consequences of failure to up hold the agreement. Maybe make the deposit amount actually mean something besides a trip to the movies. If the adopter doesn't complete their end of the bargain or at least arrange for spay or neuter at a later date to allow for adequate maturation, health, whatever, then take your animal back, get the law on your side, do something. I know, sounds stupid right? But seriously, not only should rescues and shelters be working to help and save homeless pets, they should also be working to STOP making more homeless pets. Which we can't do if we're still allowing unaltered pets to roam around, making more unaltered pets.
- Do some research. If you think that there isn't money out there for the taking that can help you spay or neuter your animals, you must not have heard of this great thing called Google. In 5 seconds, I found the following links on spay/neuter grants:
- The DJ & T Foundation awards two types of grants. They are (1) Spay/Neuter Clinic grants and (2) Spay/Neuter Assistance Program (SNAP) Grants.
- Grants for Animal Shelter, Animal Control, and Spay/Neuter Programs
- Public Funding for Spay/Neuter - Best Friends Animal Society
- Pet Smart Charities Targeted Spay/Neuter Program
- Grants for Nonprofits : Animal Welfare
- Don't forget your regular spay and neuter clinics - even if you don't want to discuss your problems with other groups or ask for help, you can find tons of resources, again online - look at what I found on ONE site (thank you NOOTERS CLUB®, I don't care if there are repeats or not, this is still good stuff)
- * Spay Michigan
Hotline offers information and referrals for low-cost spay/neuter in Michigan.
www.allaboutanimalsrescue.org/SpayMichigan.html
888-5-SPAY-HELP - All About Animals Spay/Neuter Clinic
32863 Hayes
Warren, MI 48088
14 Mile and Hayes
www.allaboutanimalsrescue.org/spayneuter.html
586-435-6930 - All About Animals & Michigan Humane Society
Spay/Neuter Program for Cats
Open to limited Income Individuals who live in Detroit (all zip codes) and these communities in Macomb County: Centerline (48015), Clinton Township (48035, 48036, 48038), Eastpointe (48021), Macomb Township (48042, 48044), Mt. Clemens (48043), Roseville (49066), Sterling Heights (48310, 48312, 48313, 48314), Utica (48315, 48316, 48317) and Warren (48088, 48089, 48091, 48092, 48093). Also open to individuals bringing in feral cats from these areas as well as parts of Oakland County. Cost is $20 per cat and includes one-year rabies vaccination and initial FVRCP vaccination.
Contact All About Animals Rescue for appointments at 586-435-6930. - Capital Area Humane Society Spay & Neuter Clinic
CAHS provides an average of 2,500 public spay and neuter procedures each year. We are often booked a full month in advance and receive up to 10 calls per day from people in need of low-cost spay or neuter services. With expansion to the new clinic, we will be able to more than triple our public surgery schedule with capacity of 8,400 procedures per year.
5919 S. Cedar St., Lansing, MI
www.cahs-lansing.org
517-908-0756 - C-SNIP
(Community Spay Neuter Initiative Partnership)
Low-cost spay/neuter clinic
Open to anyone
Grand Rapids, MI 49512
www.csnip.org
616-455-8220 - Humane Society of Huron Valley
High volume spay/neuter clinic in Ann Arbor, MI. Serving all of Washtenaw County.
3100 Cherry Hill Rd.
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
www.hshv.org
734-661-3522 - Kalamazoo Humane Society - Operation Fix-It
Kalamazoo Humane Society offers an innovative approach to controlling pet overpopulation by making spay/neuter services convenient and affordable to low-income families in and around Kalamazoo County. With our mobile clinic we can go wherever we are needed. Cats are checked-in in the morning and discharged in the afternoon or evening of the same day to recover at home. Each surgery is performed by a licensed veterinarian. The dogs in the program are spayed or neutered at private local animal clinics partnering with the Kalamazoo Humane Society.
4239 S. Westnedge
Kalamazoo, MI
www.kazoohumane.org
269-345-1181 - Michigan Humane Society
Provides 10 certificates per month for each of three shelters serving southeastern Michigan.
www.michiganhumane.org - Michigan Pet Fund Alliance
Low-cost cat spay/neuter clinics for low-income Oakland County
residents.
www.michiganpetfund.org - Spay Neuter Express
The Spay Neuter Express provides low cost, high quality spay/neuter services, as well as vaccinations, routine testing, and parasite control medication.
http://spayneuterexpress.com/
616-897-8865 - Click here for a list of numerous programs in Michigan! These MAY be out of date, but give more good places to start looking
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