Felines in plastic crates moaned and meowed as their owners unloaded them from trucks and SUVs, and set them on the rain-splattered sidewalk Tuesday morning.
Veterinary technicians ushered the cats inside and transferred them to stacked wire cages to await surgery.
The cats had made the journey to be spayed and neutered as part of World Spay Day in Alachua County.
No More Homeless Pets Inc., located at 4205 NW Sixth St., provided spaying and neutering to about 25 cats at a reduced cost in honor of the occasion.
Sandi Richmond, the clinic’s executive director, said the number of pets that are euthanized by Alachua County Animal Control has dropped by about 86 percent since 2002.
This is largely due to citywide efforts to control animal populations, she said.
Richmond said she previously focused on adoption but realized limiting dog and cat reproduction can be a more effective method to reduce the euthanasia rate countywide.
“We live in the tropics, where animals breed all year around,” she said. “Adoption was not the answer. We had to do something different.”
Jessica Ashley, the clinic’s lead veterinary technician, said neutering male cats takes about three minutes, and spaying female cats takes about 10 minutes.
After the animals leave the operating table, she said, they get to go home. In between, they’re placed in a recovery unit while the anesthesia wears off.
“We call it the beach because the animals are laid out on towels recovering under heat lamps to keep them warm,” she said.
Contact Kelcee Griffis at kgriffis@alligator.org.
Juliet Eirikis, a 19-year-old UF health science sophomore, picks up her 6-month-old cat, Everest. Her friend James Fray, a 20-year-old UF English sophomore, accompanied her to Operation Petsnip, located on Northwest Sixth Street, Tuesday afternoon.
