(Memphis) Roughly twelve thousand animals are euthanized in Memphis every year.
Experts say those animals are almost all strays and unwanted animals.
The Humane Society of Memphis and Shelby County thinks it has a solution for this problem, but says it needs money to make it happen.
It’s planning on purchasing a mobile unit that will go into low-income areas and spay and neuter animals for free or at a low cost.
Executive Director Alexis Amorose says it would save the lives of thousands of animals, preventing them from being put to sleep and address the biggest roadblocks standing in the way of people getting their pets spayed or neutered.
“It’s expensive. It’s not near any of the low-income communities. People might not have access to transportation,” said Amorose.
The Humane Society is calling it “Project STOP: Solving the overpopulation Problem.”
The Humane Society says it needs $700,000 more dollars to get the program rolling.
So far, $300,000 has been raised which is enough to cover the unit, but more money is needed to get it on the road according to Amorose, “What we want to do is having money in the bank to offset the cost of those procedures, every day we run the unit, paying veternarians, paying assistants, the drugs that will be needed, the surgical tools.”
She says the more money that is raised, the more likely the Humane Society can offer the services for free.
That in turn, will get more people to spay and neuter their pets.
Amorose says the long-term goal is to put shelters, like the humane society, out of business, leaving Memphis with only ‘wanted’ pets.
If you want to donate:
https://www.memphishumane.org/donate/online
Choose “Mobile Spay/Neuter Unit” as the “Gift Type.”