Valley Creek to hold Spay-A-Thon for pets

Published 9:58 pm Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Veterinarian of Valley Creek Animal Hospital, Dr. Frances Kendrick poses with her dog Kate. The two both smile and want to welcome anyone who cannot afford to spay their pet to apply for their Spay-A-Thon which will offered reduced prices. --Ashley Johnson

To aid in a long backlog of animals that are on a waiting list to be spayed and neutered under a reduced price, one local veterinarian is holding a Spay Day, or Spay-a-thon, in her office.

Dr. Frances Kendrick of Valley Creek Animal Hospital said she heard of another clinic in Mobile holding a one-day Spay-a-thon for those who cannot afford the regular spay prices. There is an existing program through the Alabama Veterinarian Medical Association that offers reduced price spay and neuters for those who qualify for Medicaid. Kendrick said this program is funded by the Alabama license plates.

“But the funding is so poor that nobody buys the license plates so there are not enough funds to get all of these pets spayed and neutered and we have a waiting list of people here that qualify for the reduced price but can’t get it because there are no funds,” Kendrick said. “What I want to do is try to help the backlog of people who want to get the reduced price and on Feb. 26 we are having a Spay-a-thon. We don’t want to reduce quality of the surgical procedure, we will just reduce price for the day. We will cut the price of our normal spay to a 25 percent discount.”

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She said there is an application process but those who would normally qualify for the AVMA program and qualify for Medicaid would most likely qualify for her Spay-a-thon. Her goal is to do at least 12 procedures, but she encourages everyone to apply that needs this done because she is hoping, and asking, for others in the community to pay it forward and be the beneficiary of a spay for the day.

“We want to catch everybody before their animals go in heat,” Kendrick said. “I would rather spay an animal that I know will drop a litter and keep it from going to the animal shelter. Everyday we have people that call and ask us to take a litter or a dog that they don’t want. There are so many unwanted animals in Dallas County.”

To sponsor a spay procedure or apply for the discounted procedure, call 334-872-7577.