Vet college donates $152,000 for “free” spays and neuters

Washington State University’s veterinary students participate in a vital surgical training program that provides them opportunities to hone their surgical skills while increasing the likelihood that animals will be placed with new owners from area shelters.

WSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine provides free spay or neuter services for several humane societies and shelters in the region. In the last year alone, WSU spayed 437 dogs and 226 cats. In the same time period, the college castrated 307 dogs and 147 cats. In all, the 1,107 shelter animals represented a cost to the college of $152,913.85.

“Shelter animals that enter our spay-neuter service enjoy the same standard of care and treatment as an owned pet does,” explained Gil Burns, associate dean of academic and student affairs. “The goal of this program is to train our students to skillfully conduct physical exams, blood work, anesthesia, surgery, recovery and postoperative care. At the same time, our faculty, staff and students work very hard to return healthy, highly placeable animals that are incapable of contributing to the pet overpopulation problem.”

Decisions about whether an animal will participate in the program are made by individual shelters on the basis of their own criteria. Selected animals are transported to the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine. Once on campus, they undergo complete physical examinations and laboratory work-ups, followed by either a spay or a neuter procedure, depending upon the animal’s gender. All surgeries are conducted with veterinary faculty and students working together. After an appropriate recovery period, the animals are returned to the agency in charge.

Estimates indicate that every second of every day, around the clock, an unwanted dog or cat is born in this country. Many die from injury, illness, neglect or abuse. The Humane Society of the United States estimates that 6 to 8 million of them will enter the nation’s animal shelters each year.
Only half will ever be placed in a new home. Spayed or neutered animals are much more likely to be placed with new owners as compared to intact male and female animals.

“Pet overpopulation reflects a lack of owner responsibility for the reproductive capability of the animals they own,” explained Rick DeBowes, chair of WSU’s Veterinary Clinical Sciences Department. “What WSU’s veterinary students, faculty and staff do through the spay and neuter service is ensure that at least the animals we deal with will not reproduce and are more likely to find a new home.”