SMB Non-Profit Sets Spay/Neuter Pet Milestone

UCAN CELEBRATES MILESTONE OF 10,000 SURGERIES AT REGIONS ONLY NON-PROFIT SPAY/NEUTER PET CLINIC

By Ann Keeling

Open House to be held Sunday, October 12th

CINCINNATI, OHIO, October 8, 2008 After only 18 months since opening Greater Cincinnatis only non-profit spay/neuter clinic, the United Coalition for Animals (UCAN) has achieved a significant milestone: 10,000 surgeries that will help to reduce pet over-population and correspondingly high euthanasia rates in the tri-state region.

When UCAN opened its non-profit clinic in April of 2007, our goal was to remove financial barriers that were keeping many lower-income pet owners from doing whats right for their pets, said UCAN President Carol Sanger. We were committed to providing a low-cost spay/neuter resource that would reduce the number of dogs and cats, puppies and kittens that are born only to wind up among the 33,000 animals that are euthanized in Greater Cincinnati every year because there are too few homes.

Harlan Dalluge, UCANs executive director, noted that the clinics 10,000 surgeries represent approximately 160,000 fewer puppies and kittens born in Greater Cincinnati in the last 18 months.

By providing low-cost spay/neuter surgeries to those most in need, UCAN has made a significant stride toward reducing the number of homeless animals in our community, Dalluge noted. This, in turn, helps ease the financial burden on taxpayers who are spending an estimated $5.8 million annually to capture, house and eventually euthanize the 33,000 animals that face that fate locally every year.

To mark its 10,000th spay/neuter surgery and the significant progress made toward reducing pet over-population and pet euthanasia in Greater Cincinnati, UCAN is inviting the community to join in the celebration at an open house to be held from 2-4 p.m. on Sunday, October 12th at the UCAN Non-Profit Spay/Neuter Clinic. The clinic is located at 1230 West Eighth Street, just across the Eighth Street viaduct from downtown Cincinnati.

For further information, please visit the UCAN website at www.ucancincinnati.org or call the clinic at 721-PETS.