Spay and neuter surgeries back on at HSOY
Shelter hires new veterinarian, restarts vaccine clinics
Months after shutting down its spay and neuter surgeries and vaccine clinics due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the loss of its veterinarian, the Humane Society of Yuma has a new vet and has restarted its medical services.
In a time when there’s a shortage of veterinarians across the nation, HSOY was “extremely lucky” in nabbing Dr. Mark Manzon, who comes to Yuma from the Chula Vista Animal Care Facility in California. He moved to Yuma with his family in December.
Manzon, a native of the Philippines, worked as a veterinarian technician for several years before obtaining his veterinary license.
“He had heard through the grapevine how great Yuma was,” said Annette Lagunas, executive director of HSOY.
After checking out the city and the shelter, Manzon accepted the full-time position as the HSOY director of veterinary medical services.
“We scooped him as soon as we could,” Lagunas said, noting that Chula Vista residents voted him as Best Veterinarian.
With medical services reopened, HSOY is now playing catch-up with postponed surgeries and vaccinations for dogs and cats. The organization emailed the pet owners whose spay and neuter surgeries were canceled last year. Within the first hour, the shelter received 100 applications. Within the first 24 hours, 200 applications had come in.
“We were inundated right away,” Lagunas said.
Surgeries are currently booked out until May. However, HSOY will be
adding more surgery appointments over the next week or so.
“The demand is so great. We can only do so many surgeries per day,” Lagunas said.
Pet owners interested in booking a spay or neuter surgery should go to www. hsoyuma.com, click “clinic” and then “low-costs services.”
For vaccinations against rabies and other diseases, click on “clinic” and then “walk-in vaccine clinics.” In addition to vaccines, microchipping and pet ID tags are also available.
HSOY is also holding mobile vaccination and licensing clinics around Yuma County. The shelter already held clinics in Dateland and Wellton and has clinics scheduled in
Somerton on Feb. 6, San
Luis on Feb. 20 and at the HSOY shelter on March 20, according to the website.
The cost of surgeries and vaccinations for dogs, cats, puppies and kittens are listed on the website.
Although all surgeries are fully booked, HSOY still has openings for sterilization of community cats, also called feral cats. Community cats are returned to the same area where they live after sterilization.
“Citizens who have a few cats around their home may want to sterilize them so they don’t have babies roaming around,” Lagunas noted. “Sterilizing community cats not only ensures they’re not making more babies, but it also eliminates bad behaviors.”
HSOY tries to sterilize at least 100 community cats a month, some with the help of Feline Friends, a group of volunteers who trap, neuter and release feral cats. Cat colonies are located at various locations across town, mostly in public places and businesses. Cats that have been sterilized will have their ears tipped.
To schedule an appointment for community cats, go to www.catstats.org/ yuma. Once community members sign up and register the cat colony, they will be placed on the waiting list. A HSOY staff member will then contact them via email when a surgery spot is available. The shelter rents out traps for $75 each. Up to five surgeries at a time can be scheduled. If someone needs assistance with trapping community cats, HSOY will contact Feline Friends and volunteers will help set and pick up the traps.
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Grant funding is available for residents of Yuma and Yuma County to help with spay and neuter surgeries, for both household pets and community cats. The city recently received $20,000 and the county $10,000 in grant funding from the Arizona Companion Animal Spay and Neuter Committee. The funds were raised through the sale of Arizona pet friendly license plates for automobiles.
Grant funding eligibility is based on income and hardship.
If a Yuma resident already has an appointment, they may call the city and tell staff they have an appointment and would like to use grant funding. The city will issue a voucher.
As far as county residents, they may fill out a form at the shelter to determine eligibility.
“(Eligibility for grant funding) is not black and white. We try to leave it very open because there are so many situations that people are going through, especially these days. We need to know if they’re truly in need, because that is all the funding we have. Grant funding only lasts us for so long,” Lagunas explained.
“Prices at the clinic are relatively low as it is. For those who can afford them, we ask them that they (pay out of pocket) so we can help more people,” she added.
GOALS FOR 2021
“In 2020, with COVID, we definitely had some hiccups,” Lagunas noted.
With the pandemic, surgeries greatly decreased and were then completely canceled when HSOY lost its veterinarian.
The focus right now is on low-cost spay and neuter services for the community.
“We understand the community really needs low-cost services for these pets. It will take us a few months to get caught up. We are definitely working very hard to get the animals in and get them sterilized and updated on their vaccinations,” she said.
“As we go into 2021, our goal is to get on top of sterilization and make a big dent on the community cats and make an impact on the amount of kittens that could potentially be born in a month or two,” Lagunas added.
At this time, HSOY is not offering any other medical services. If pet owners have medical issues, the shelter recommends that they reach out to a local veterinarian for assistance.
HSOY is located at 4050 S. Avenue 4½ E and can be reached at 928-247-9115.