Spay/neuter clinic fills up fast

A  free-will offering spay and neuter clinic being held in Havre June 30 and July 1 at the Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line is full, but a waitlist and vaccinations are still available and a nonprofit is being formed that might help offer more clinics.

“The response to this clinic has been more than we expected. The clinic is something we wanted to add as our first stage of dealing with an overpopulation of cats in and around the city limits of Havre,” Havre Animal Shelter’s Facebook page said. “The response was not only from Havre but from areas as far away as Glasgow and Shelby. Unfortunately, with the number of people requesting reservations we were not able to get everyone into the clinic.”

Havre Animal Control Officer Pete Federspiel said spots still are open on the waiting lists for dogs and they are also offering vaccinations for $15 for dogs or cats on a walk-in basis.

If dogs drop off the registration list, the dogs on the waiting list can take their place in order.

The clinic at the Boys & Girls Club is being put on in a partnership between Havre Animal Shelter and Spay Montana, he added.

Spay Montana is a program through Lewis and Clark County Humane Society that works throughout Montana to help prevent dog and cat overpopulation through low- and no-cost spay/neutering clinics, its official website says.

Federspiel said this will be the first clinic they have hosted in Havre that is working with both cats and dogs, adding that he feels it is important to have clinics that include dogs, too.

The clinic is paid for, in part, through a grant provided by Spay Montana, Federspiel said, with the other half being paid for by the animal shelter.

The shelter would like to host more no-cost or free clinics, Federspiel said, hoping that it will help be financed by the new Friends of the Havre Animal Shelter nonprofit organization.

The paperwork is filed for the nonprofit, Federspiel said.

“We are just waiting on the final approval from the IRS,” he added.

Federspiel said he is hoping that the nonprofit can raise money for not only spay and neuter clinics, which they are looking to do again next year, but also for other projects for the animals of the community.

These projects include a trap and release program, Federspiel said.

This program, also known as TNR or Trap-Neuter-Release is where feral cats are humanely trapped, spayed or neutered and then released to their outdoor home, says the website for the nonprofit cat care website, Alley Cat Allies.

Income certificates for low-income community members to take their animals to the veterinarian is another cause the Friends of the Havre Animal Shelter wants to raise money for, Federspiel added.

For more information on spay/neuter clinics around Montana, people can view the Spay Montana website at http://spaymontana.org/?page_id=36/.

A facebook page for Friends of the Havre Animal Shelter run by Federspiel’s wife, Kim Federspiel, can be seen at https://www.facebook.com/Friends-of-the-Havre-Animal-Shelter-227103734537690/.