2017 Lower-Income Pet-Cat Spay/Neuter Program
Who We Help
Just as there's no such thing as a "free lunch", there's no such thing as a "free cat". Yet many people don't realize this when they take home a stray cat — or adopt one in front of Walmart or on Craigslist — or take kittens from a friend whose cat had a litter. Then — just as their indoor pet is becoming their soulmate, the problems set in — the spraying, yowling and kittening of an intact mature cat — and the expense of a spay/neuter.
For caregivers who can afford it, this "problem" is just a blip in the relationship — they simply call their vet and schedule a spay or neuter surgery which takes care of the problem. But — for many caregivers, the cost of this is prohibitive and they ultimately relinquish their cat to a shelter or abandon it outdoors and — often — then look for another free cat.
We provide this group with an alternative — by filling out a brief telephone application (subject to the eligibility requirements below), we can provide them with a free spay/neuter voucher to use at their local vet clinic. Everyone wins with this solution — the cat gets a forever home, the shelters don't have another cat to intake and the community sees a reduction in the number of feral cat colonies.
If you're a caregiver providing quality indoor care for a cat you rescued, this program is for you. If you're seeking help getting a cat fixed that's needy but more loosely cared for — as a porch cat, a foster cat or in a feral colony — consider one of our Community Cat Outreach partners for assistance. If you're outside of their service areas, check with your local vet clinic for other alternatives.
Application Process
To apply, simply call us and complete a brief telephone application. If we can approve it, we’ll mail a voucher to you for each unfixed pet cat in your care — usually the very next working day. We have no waiting list and process applications year‐round. After you receive the voucher, you may schedule your appointment with any of our participating clinics.
Covered Services
Our vouchers pay the full cost for the following services — so if you have only these services performed, there is no cost to you. (If you authorize additional work, it will be at your expense.)
- Brief day‐of‐surgery exam
- Spay or neuter surgery
- Rabies vaccination given at time of surgery
- Post‐op pain medication when needed
- Taxes and fees
- Add‐on charges for in‐heat, pregnant and cryptorchid surgeries
Many (but not all) of our clinics will also include an FVRCP vaccination at time of surgery and treat your cat for visible parasites if any.
Voucher Expiration Date
We ask that you schedule the surgeries as soon as you receive your vouchers. Although they carry an expiration date of 6 weeks from issuance, that is to give the clinic flexibility in scheduling. After your voucher expires, you may still use it during its 30‐day grace period if the clinic needs more time to schedule you in or if your cat is pregnant or nursing or too sick or young to fix earlier. After the grace period, the voucher expires absolutely and cannot be re‐issued.
Eligibility
To apply for our free‐and‐local spay/neuter vouchers you must be the head of your low‐income household and be providing lifetime indoor care for your pet cat.
For purposes of our application:
- Head of household is at least 18 years old and the primary
earner (or spouse) living in the home and is generally the homeowner or
lessee.
- Low‐income household is one where the gross income of all the
adults at the physical address combined is under $50,000 per year and the value
of the home is less than $300,000.
For most applicants we accept self-reporting of income.
We may require confirming paperwork if:
- Your home is valued at more than $200,000.
- You are self-employed or work in a professional capacity.
- Your gross annual household income approaches our $50,000 limit.
- You report no household income and receive no government assistance.
- Indoor pet cat is at least 3 months old
(ie, weighs at least 3 pounds) and one that has free
access to your home at all times, is cared for as your personal companion,
and would unquestionably move with you were you to move to a different
location.
It does not include outdoor cats even if they have access to dry shelter such
as a barn, porch or garage nor does it include cats living with you that are
unnamed.
It excludes households with more than 4 cats (excluding kittens under 3 months
that will be adopted out to other homes).
The 4‐cat total is cumulative to all applications we receive from any or all
of the adults in the household during the life of the program.
- Service Area. Our vouchers are currently accepted at many veterinary and spay/neuter clinics located throughout New Mexico in Bernalillo, Catron, Colfax, McKinley, Rio Arriba, San Juan, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Socorro, Taos and Valencia counties. Residents of these counties and those living within a reasonable driving distance of them (ie, within 45 minutes of a participating clinic) are eligible to apply.
Reasons your application may be turned down include:
- You don't meet these eligibility requirements.
- The cat was purchased (even if as a gift to you).
- You intend to declaw your cats. (We don’t support the practice.)
- You don’t intend to fix all of the cats in your home within the same voucher time period (unless they are under 3 months old and you are adopting them out to others).
As a general rule, we cannot process applications for caregivers who do not fully cooperate with the application process, give us inconsistent, incomplete or erroneous information, have received vouchers before and did not use them or did not cooperate fully with the vet clinic, or no longer have the cats that were listed on earlier applications.
Application Interview
During the interview, you’ll be asked for the following:
- Names of all the adults living at your address — in your home or on the same property — their occupations (if any) and what their regular gross income is from work, pensions or government assistance.
- Your physical address so we can determine if you live in our service area. And your mailing address so we can mail your vouchers.
- An accounting of all of the cats or kittens living inside your home, regardless of whether they are already fixed or not.
Application Timeframe
If you don’t receive your vouchers within a week of your application date, call us to find out why. We’ve found the local postal service to be spotty and so they may have been lost in the mail. And when we go to process an application, occasionally we run into questions or concerns and hold your application for clarification. Rarely we receive an application we are not able to approve. If this is the case with your application, we’ll explain why when you call to follow‐up and give you some suggestions of other ways to get your cat fixed. In 2016 we received over 1,800 applications and 1,400 of them were approved so the odds are pretty good you’ll receive a voucher.
Reapplication
Since we are providing vouchers solely for indoor pet cats and we require that all cats in your home be fixed during the same voucher period, reapplication is generally unnecessary. But — if you occasionally adopt a new cat you may reapply subject to the conditions listed above.