Spay Neuter Kingston Initiative

Our positions are:
1. Pet overpopulation is serious problem.
2. Shelters and animal service facilities cannot accommodate all the animals that come to their doors.
3. Euthanasia is not the answer for pet population control.
4. Spaying and neutering pets reduces the numbers of unwanted animals coming in to shelters and reduces the burden on resources.
5. Spay/neuter education leads to fewer homeless pets and better care for all others.

Adopting from a shelter is a wonderful and rewarding experience but it doesn’t solve the big problem, overpopulation of companion animals. There are simply too many dogs and cats (especially cats) being born for the number of homes wanting to take them in. Most adult dogs and cats entering shelters have not been “fixed”. Some come in already pregnant, including animals surrendered to shelters by their owners. Many entering will not find new homes. Pet overpopulation is a dismaying, sad issue.

What has worked to reduce pet overpopulation in the United States, beginning in Asheville, North Carolina in 1994, are low cost, high volume, spay/neuter clinics, open to the general public. With some minor variations between clinics, that is typically all they do. Spaying and neutering is a one-time cost in the life of an animal and owners without a veterinarian (generally about 80%) are encouraged by clinic staff to have their animals seen by a “vet” on a regular basis. The non-profit corporation which pioneered these establishments is called Humane Alliance. Their website is humanealliance.org.

Earlier this year the first such spay/neuter service opened in Ontario. Located in Newmarket, it has been overwhelmed with interest and is booking months in advance for the surgeries, with people coming from as far away as Elliott Lake. Please see their website at spayneuter.ontariospca.ca. There are now groups in Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Barrie, Lindsay, St. Catherines, Ottawa and Port Colborne working to set up such services in their own areas. The directors of the Peterborough Humane Society have just voted to open such a service based on the Humane Alliance model in that city.

We think that Kingston is a “natural” for such a service. There certainly is a need, and if you are coming from out of town, what better place to spend the day before you take your newly fixed companion animal home!

Our goal is to see such a service established. If the Humane Alliance model is followed, these services are designed to be self-sustaining after a few years as they become very efficient at doing what they do. It has also been shown that after some time their existence significantly reduces the number of animals coming into area shelters, meaning better outcomes for the animals that do. There will always be a need for animal shelters.

We will be incorporating as a non-profit and will apply to be registered as a charity. The name we go by is Spay/Neuter Kingston Initiative (SNKI).