People for Pets, Friends of the Culpeper Animal Shelter join forces

In an effort to better control Culpeper County’s pet population, the People for Pets Foundation and the Friends of the Culpeper Animal Shelter have joined forces.

The two local groups held a spay and neuter clinic for cats Dec. 15, and on Jan. 5 they will hold a program for spaying and neutering pit bulls and related “bully breeds,” PFP founder and President Liz Dubenitz said.

Culpeper residents who wish to have their pit bulls or pit-crosses spayed or neutered Jan. 5 need to register by contacting the Culpeper County Animal Shelter at 547-4477.

The cost to spay a female dog is $65; $55 to neuter male dogs. An additional $25 is charged for pets weighing 50 pounds or more. Any pet not already having a rabies shot will receive one for $10.

On Jan. 5, registered county residents will bring their pets to the shelter in the morning. The animals will be taken to a clinic in Harrisonburg for the procedures and returned later in the day.

“The Shenandoah Clinic in Harrisonburg does this for several counties, and at a much lower cost than usual,” Dubenitz said. “It’s really is a wonderful program.”

Dubenitz said it usually costs $300 to $400 to get a cat fixed by a veterinarian. The shelter program costs $50 for female cats and $35 for males.

The program is a joint effort between PFP, FOCAS, the Culpeper Humane Society and the county animal shelter. The groups are paying half the cost of the procedures, which is another reason the cost for the clinics is so low.

“The idea is to get the animals spayed and neutered now so there aren’t so many puppies and kittens coming into the shelter next spring,” said Dubenitz.

About the merger

The PFP and FOCAS boards of directors will combine in January.

“I met with Rose McKinney and Liz Larson of FOCAS and found out that, since they’re busy working to save the animals, they really have very little time to do any fundraising,” Dubenitz said. “That’s my area of expertise, so I asked if they would like to join our group, and they accepted.”

McKinney, who serves as president of FOCAS, said the combination “is like a marriage made in heaven.”

“They concentrate on the fundraising part while we concentrate on fostering and adopting and the animal rescue operations; we do the hands-on things,” McKinney said.

She added that the groups are focusing on pit bulls next month and plan to have a clinic for hound and hound crossbreeds in March.

“We see so many of them at the shelter, and people don’t seem to want to adopt them,” McKinney said. “The same is true for cats. Nine out of 10 people who come into the shelter are looking to adopt a dog.”

McKinney said FOCAS formed in October 2008, and soon after began taking shelter cats to Pet Smart locations in Culpeper and Manassas for adoption.

“We have 10 cages in Manassas and five cages in Culpeper,” McKinney said.

Positive results

Loretta Clatterbuck, volunteer operations assistant for the Culpeper County Animal Shelter, said the increased local efforts of the various groups have been making a difference.

“We’re seeing a lot fewer puppies come in,” Clatterbuck said. “Now we’re working to cut back on the number of kittens we get.”

McKinney said euthanasia rates at the shelter have been dropping dramatically and that 2011 is expected to be the lowest rate the shelter has ever seen.

“We have been able to increase our adoption rates by bringing cats to Pet Smart, and we place a lot of dogs with rescue groups,” McKinney said.

During the Dec. 15 clinic, 50 cats were fixed, McKinney said.

The limit for the Jan. 5 clinic is 10 male dogs and 20 female dogs.

FOCUS and PFP plan to continue having monthly spay and neuter clinics as long as they can. They also plan to start taking shelter dogs to Pet Smart in Culpeper and Manassas one Saturday per month in an effort to place more animals in loving homes.

“We haven’t set a date yet, but we want to take dogs to Pet Smart one day a month to start with and hopefully work up to two days,” McKinney said. “They will be dogs that are already spayed or neutered and have all their shots.”