Last week, Spay/Neuter Kansas City had an open house for their new facility at the corner of 59th and Troost in Kansas City.
For those of you not family, SNKC is largest (I believe) of several low cost spay/neuter programs in the Kansas City area, and serves mostly the lower-income areas of Kansas City, MO.
Last year, SNKC altered 5,600 dogs and cats. This year, with the help of the new facility, their goal is to alter 8,000. They are currently altering about 35 animals a day on normal days with their 2 on-staff veterinarians, and about 100 once a month at their large MASH clinics.
Last week, the folks at thePet Connection posted numbers on who alters and doesn't alter cats by income. At least 70% of the unaltered cats that live in homes live in homes with less than $35,000 income. While their numbers are specific to cats, most statistics would indicate that the numbers are similar for dogs as well. With over 17% of the residents of Kansas Ctiy, MO currently living below the poverty line, their services are very much needed.
Two of the main reasons people say they do not alter their pets are because 1) they really don't understand benefits to altering and 2) they cannot afford the proceedure. SNKC provides a huge resource for both of these - by not only providing the low cost spay/neuter proceedures, but also providing an outreach program where they go into the city's urban core and talk to owners about better ways to take care of their dogs, proving food, proper collars, straw and dog houses for warmth in the winter, and information on their low cost services.
About a year ago, they found out that they were going to be kicked out of their former building at 35th and Main because the landlord there was going to convert the building into condos. With the help of the city, they were able to find a new location -- a former auto-repair building that was owned by the city that has been retrofitted nicely for their operation -- I think the pictures tell a good story.
On top of being a great new facility, I think the location is going to serve SNKC well. The location is now even closer to the community that they are serving, and is an equally high-visibility site right along Troost (which has the city's 2nd busiest bus line).
There was a lot of community support that made this possible -- from the city, to free-lance architect design work, to countless volunteers and donations from throughout the city. This remains another good example of what can be done when different groups of people unite to do the right thing in the city. The multiple low-cost spay/neuter options in the KC area are a big part of the overall picture in making Kansas City more humane for the dogs and cats in our community. There is more work to be done, but there is a lot of good progress being made.
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