The timing couldn’t be better for “Operation City Spay”, the collaboration between the Best Friends Feral Cat Program and dedicated veterinarians in Southern Utah.
by Denise LeBeau, Best Friends staffThis program helps over 90 feral cat caregivers by supplying veterinary care, food, spay/neuter and educational resources to them on a regular basis. Approximately 2,500 cats are getting top shelf care through this program, and its far reaching tentacles are about to reach even further thanks to caring veterinarians that want to help!
The participating veterinarians are providing low-cost spay/neuter to the ferals of their area. The surgery appointments through the BFFCP are usually filled months in advance and being able to add their services will ensure that an additional 120 cats will not be procreating until the next Best Friends’ Clinic appointment is available! That’s thousands of additional homeless pets that will not be born!
Put succinctly by Susan Barrett, a feral cat caregiver from Hurricane, “You hear a lot about what Best Friends does regarding the large rescue efforts: Peru, Lebanon, Pahrump, Katrina; but you don’t hear as much about what Best Friends does on a daily basis! This feral cat program not only helps by saving lives, but also stops the cycle of tremendous suffering. Best Friends has helped make my dreams come true. They don’t have to do any of this for us, but they do. They make it work & successful.”
But Best Friends can’t do it all alone! Dr. Bice of Hurricane, Dr. Esplin of Cedar City, Dr. Brinkerhoff & Dr. Ball of St. George are all opening up their clinics and hearts to these kitties in need!
“We have the best veterinarians in the world as part of this program, we couldn’t do it without them,” said Shelly Kotter, manager of the program.
But how do the vets feel?
“We are looking forward to helping the community with the over abundance of cats in the area,” said Cathy Erickson, office manager for Dr. Bice, who is currently attending a conference.
“He’s out checking cows,” is the answer I get from the office manager at Dr. Brinkerhoff’s when I explain I’m calling for a quote! But wait, I’m put on hold, and suddenly a man’s distinguished voice is on the other line! “I’ve been working with the ferals for years. I enjoy working with Kris! I’m glad to help the ferals, and Kris is about the nicest lady you’d ever want to meet! She’s kept up my involvement,” said Dr. Brinkerhoff, matter-of-factly!
Kris Neal is on the shortlist of saints that help make this program work. We’d better call her! “I’ve been working with the ferals for about 8 years! And I love the way Dr. Brinkerhoff and his staff treat the ferals. He really treats them with respect,” Kris’s voice sang with praise talking about this most beloved vet. “I started out trapping by myself. I had one trap and each paycheck I’d take one or two cats in for spay/neuter. Then I got involved with the [url=
http://www.utahpets.org/No More Homeless Pets[/url] program and Holly Sizemore was great. The program was downsized when a major grant ended and so I called Best Friends. It’s the best of both worlds, I’ve got two huge resources that are making a tremendous difference.”
“Shelly Kotter has performed absolute miracles! She’s been able to accomplish in a short time what I’ve been trying to accomplish for a long time. There’s a long way to go but the program has finally taken hold. People used to call me and ask me to come fix their problem, but now people call me asking for resources! They want to borrow traps or they need guidance, we can address the feral cat problem of entire neighborhoods where before it was spotty…Spay/neuter is the only way to really change the number of animals entering the shelter system. Trapping and removing ferals is going to increase their numbers, not decrease them. My neighborhood was out of control. There were 22 cats 8 years ago, they were all spayed/neutered, and now there are 2 of those cats left!”
“Dr. Brinkerhoff and Dr. Ball both consistently go the extra mile for animals in need! Both are extremely accommodating, if I have more cats than I planned, they never turn me away. Plus they help place the kittens and the special needs cats, in addition to supplying extra medical care. Dr. Ball has a vet tech named Janet, who’s a real peach, have you spoken to her?” continued Kris, cueing me to call Janet!
Janet Wagner has been working with Dr. Ball for 5 years. She’s all about making a difference in the lives of homeless animals! “I hope I’m making a difference! I love the ferals, and spay/neuter is the only way to really see long term results. I love this program, ever since I moved here I’ve been concerned about how people feel that animals are disposable – especially feral cats. These are animals people don’t understand. And they don’t understand that it’s a people problem. I even talk with clients that would like to have their own pets fixed but they can’t afford it. I’m telling people all the time about the resources available to them through the No More Homeless Pets program and Best Friends. They have options!” Janet shared.
“Dr. Ball also helps a lot of other rescues & shelters by giving discounted spay/neuter, vaccines and medication to the animals that need it. He has even turned over one of his buildings at the animal medical facility to be used as an adoption center for PAWS out of St. George! I really like working for Dr. Ball, he’s very fair and a good veterinarian.”
“The program has really evolved, at first I would bring the cats over to Best Friends for spay/neuter appointments. Now Shelly assigns me a day and she comes and picks them up. Working with Shelly is amazing! I love working with her – her heart and soul is in the program. She is very dependable and always makes me feel like there’s no question that isn’t important to her,” said Susan Barrett, when asked about what she feels is unique about this program!
There you have it, the Best Friends Feral Cat Program is busily promoting love among the humans involved, and proper care for the feral cats that are lucky enough to be a part of it!
images by Troy SnowHow You Can Get Involved!If you live in the Southern Utah area and there are feral cats in your community that you would like to help, please contact Shelly Kotter at (435) 689-1221 or email her at
shellyk@bestfriends.org Not in the area but still want to help? Check out the following resources:
Best Friends Resource Library Best Friends Special Guest’s ArchivesAlley Cat AlliesNeighborhood CatsProject Bay Cat (tool kit for humane feral cat population control)