Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 5, 1993 TAG: 9307050089
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: LARRY W. BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
\ It's an old problem: How do we keep dogs and cats from breeding and overpopulating the Roanoke Valley with unwanted, uncared-for animals?
Pet owners can pay $65 to $80 to have their animals spayed or neutered, but the cost is beyond the reach of some low-income households.
The Roanoke Valley Veterinary Medical Association hopes to help those pet owners by offering free spaying and neutering.
Cooperating veterinarians will absorb the cost of the free service called Co-Snap - Cooperative Spay-Neuter Assistance Program, according to Dr. Charlotte Dietz, the association's president.
Unchecked, the breeding can deplete the resources of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, keep animal control officers hopping, and contribute to the spread of animal diseases.
According to the SPCA, two cats free to breed can produce 20,000 offspring in four years; a pair of dogs can produce 5,000 offspring.
"The only segment of the population where spaying and neutering is not available is people with a low income or with difficult circumstances," Dietz said. "This is an area we're going to try to fill."
There are no income guidelines. Applications for the program will include basic income questions and participating veterinarians from the 45-member association will evaluate them on a case-by-case basis, according to Dietz.
Accepted animals then will be assigned to a veterinary hospital to be spayed, neutered, dewormed and vaccinated for rabies or other diseases.
Dietz stressed that Co-Snap will maintain top-notch medical care even though qualified pet owners will not have to pay.
"A lot of the public don't understand a spay is major abdominal surgery," which requires a lot of care and monitoring, Dietz said. "The same standards that apply to Lewis-Gale can apply here."
Although Co-Snap eventually may provide services for hundreds of animals, some veterinarians say the program will not solve the pet overpopulation problem.
Dr. Mark Finkler, a veterinarian and former president of the veterinary association, supports Co-Snap, but said the program hardly will decrease the thousands of stray cats and dogs.
"We'll never spay or neuter the problem away," he said. "It's a complex problem."
Dietz agrees Co-Snap must have realistic goals.
"Some programs seem like they're going to solve the spay and neuter problem, and we're not," she said. "It's designed for assistance. I think this has realistic goals for animals that would not be spayed/neutered by any other means."
Finkler suggested more comprehensive ways to slow pet overpopulation, such as changing some state laws, but "that's years down the road," he said.
Despite the large numbers of strays in the Roanoke area, Al Alexander, the new events coordinator for the Roanoke Valley SPCA, said that the "numbers are getting better." The number of SPCA adoptions has increased while euthanasia has decreased, he said.
On the average, the SPCA takes in about 135 cats and dogs in a six-day week, Alexander said.
"I think that the Co-Snap program coupled with education will help the problem," he said. "People don't realize how fast these little fellas multiply."
To apply for free pet neutering, contact the SPCA (344-4840) or the Animal Control office in your community (Roanoke: 981-2891, Roanoke County: 561-8040, Salem: 375-3078).
Memo: ***CORRECTION***