Mobile spay and neuter clinic will tackle pet overpopulation in San Joaquin County
A mobile clinic that provides free spay and neuter services for cats and dogs will soon roll out in San Joaquin County.
The San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors recently voted 4-0 to allocate $10,000 to the Animal Protection League's (APL) new mobile spay and neuter clinic. The money came out of District 4 Supervisor Steve Ding's discretionary fund.
“We need to have safe, low-cost ways for San Joaquin County residents to spay and neuter their pets,” Ding said.
District 4 constituents have complained about stray animals, Ding said. Spay and neuter programs help prevent animals from roaming the streets, animal neglect, and overcrowding local shelters, he added.
“The team at APL have our full support to help end the crisis of unwanted pets in our community," he said. "I want to encourage all our residents to spay and neuter their cats and dogs to help control the pet population."
Ding noted that the costs of spaying and neutering animals can prevent some from getting the services they need.
At the ACT Spay and Neuter Clinic in Stockton, it costs $85 to spay a female cat and $65 to neuter a male cat. The cost for dogs ranges anywhere between $120 to $275, depending on gender and weight.
The Animal Protection League is hoping to make access easier for county residents and their pets, as well as stray pets. They are preparing to staff a 37-foot bus with a veterinary health care team who will travel across the county and provide resources for animal well-being.
"We plan on spaying and neutering every dog and cat that comes our direction for free, as long as we possibly can," said Jill Antonini, APL's director of development and community outreach.
She told supervisors that the $365,080 bus will be delivered in the next few weeks. The organization is funded by community donations and grants.
"That's a tremendous expense for us, but we are here to stop the bleed," Antonini said. "Lost and Found 209 experiences 75 to 100 (social media) posts a day for dogs that are being caught and are not microchipped. There's no way to identify where they came from."
Because of this, Antonini said the mobile clinic will also offer free microchipping and vaccinations.
"We are going to go to the root of the problem and stop the unnecessary euthanasia of dogs and cats," she said.
At the Stockton Animal Shelter, euthanasia rates increased from 4% in 2021 to 8% in 2022. A total of 585 animals — 379 cats and 206 dogs — were put down that year.
The uptick came as the shelter saw a decline in cat and dog adoptions. Adoption rates have been on the decline since 2019, when it stood at 33%. The rate fell to 29% in 2020 and then dropped to 25% in 2021. It's stood at 25% since then, according to data provided by the shelter.
The Animal Protection League expects to open the mobile spay and neuter clinic in early 2024. For more information, visit apl209.org.
Record reporter Hannah Workman covers news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at hworkman@recordnet.com or on Twitter @byhannahworkman. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Mobile spay and neuter clinic coming to San Joaquin County
