Washoe County Spay/Neuter Awareness Month: February 2025
Options Veterinary Care nonprofit clinic (Options), Washoe County Regional Animal Services (WCRAS), SPCA of Northern Nevada (SPCA-NN), Pet Network Humane Society (PNHS), and several local rescue groups are collaborating on a month long spay/neuter event for February 2025. Other participating local nonprofits include Res-Que, For Pet’s Sake, Community Cats of Reno, Feral at Heart, and more listed below.
The Goals:
-
Share information about the need for spay/neuter in our community and its benefits.
-
Together, fix over 500 dogs and cats in February 2025 in Washoe County.​
Spay/neuter is one of the most powerful tools we have to protect cats and dogs from suffering. It helps keep pets in homes and out of shelters in addition to providing many health benefits for pets.
Last year, WCRAS received 1,332 juvenile animals (611 puppies and 721 kittens), most of them unintentional or unwanted litters.
Spay/Neuter Assistance
-
SPCA-NN will be offering affordable spay/neuter vouchers for local vet clinics starting February 11, 2025. Their Spay Neuter Clinic makes appointments available one month at a time, and will be made available next on February 20 at 8 am for appointments in March 2025. Get more information on both programs at this link.
-
Options offers spay/neuter for dogs and cats, including financial assistance made possible by ARPA funding for people who cannot afford services, and free spay/neuter for community cats. Call 775-499-3700, extension 1, and leave a message for an appointment.
-
Community Cats of Reno offers assistance and spay/neuter information for outdoor and free roaming cats at 775-360-8053.
Get your pet or community cats fixed through one of these programs in February, and you will be entered into a raffle to win prizes.
Why should pets be fixed? The benefits of spay and neuter include:
-
Significantly reduces the number of unwanted litters and homeless pets and eases the burden on animal shelters that often struggle with overcrowding.
-
Neutered pets live longer, healthier, and happier lives.
-
Provides behavioral benefits for your pets, reducing undesirable behaviors, like humping, spray-marking, and roaming.
-
Benefits the community in terms of public health and safety and lowers costs for sheltering and animal services.
How are local groups working together?
Because the need for spay/neuter exceeds the availability of services (in part because of the nationwide shortage of veterinarians), several groups are offering additional services to help meet needs including the following:
-
WCRAS is providing spay/neuter surgeries in conjunction with a local rescue group.
-
Options is providing free spay/neuter for community cats (outdoor and feral cats) and for rescue groups in Washoe County, as well as low-cost spay/neuter for the public, including free vaccinations and microchips.
-
WCRAS and SPCA-NN veterinarians and staff are providing additional spay/neuter days at Options nonprofit clinic this February.​
How you can help:
-
Donations to participating local organizations will help this effort.
-
Donations to Options nonprofit clinic will be used to treat animals who come in for spay/neuter surgery, but also have other health issues when their owner cannot afford this care.
Participating Organizations:​
-
Options Veterinary Care https://www.optionsveterinarycare.org
-
SPCA NN https://spcanevada.org/
-
Pet Network Humane Society https://www.petnetwork.org/
-
Community Cats of Reno http://www.communitycatsofreno.org/
-
Feral at Heart https://www.feralatheart.org/
-
For Pets Sake Reno https://www.forpetssakereno.org/
Special Thanks:
Options Veterinary Care would like to extend a big thank you to a caring long-time supporter of spay/neuter in our community for her inspiration and support that helped make this month-long effort possible.
