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UC Davis & Local Veterinarians Address Animal Overpopulation SACRAMENTO - The Sacramento Valley Veterinary Medical Association, the
Sacramento Area Animal Coalition and the UC Davis School of Veterinary
Medicine will partner for the first time in an effort to provide up to
1,000
free spay-neuter surgeries for dogs and cats of low-income families on
Spay
Day USA, February 22, 2004.
Low-income animal caregivers in Sacramento, Placer, Solano and Yolo
counties
will be able to set up appointments for Spay Day 2004 beginning in
January
2004. On February 22, caregivers with appointments will take their
animals
to one of 20 participating veterinary clinics in the Sacramento area or
UC
Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, where volunteer veterinarians will
conduct spay or neuter procedures.
More than 40,000 unwanted dogs and cats are killed each year in the
four-county area. By spaying and neutering 1,000 animals on Spay Day USA
2004, the community will prevent the births of more than 20,000 puppies
and
kittens over the next year alone.
"This is the first partnership of its kind in the nation," says
Sacramento
Area Animal Coalition President Jennifer Fearing. "Companion animal
overpopulation is a crisis and the resources are slim. But working
together
we will make great strides toward reducing the needless deaths in the
Sacramento area."
The veterinary association will recruit veterinarians from throughout
the
Sacramento area. The coalition will coordinate volunteers, schedule
appointments and procure donated medical supplies. At the School of
Veterinary Medicine, faculty, staff and student volunteers will conduct
surgery and care services at the school's new 30-table student surgery
facility.
"Veterinarians are pleased to help needy families do the right - and
healthy
- thing for their dogs and cats," says Dean Henricks, DVM, President of
the
Sacramento Valley Veterinary Medical Association. "We can make a big
difference on Spay Day and are proud to be a part of community that is
devoted to eliminating companion animal overpopulation."
The coalition, www.sacanimal.org, has
coordinated Spay Day USA in Sacramento for the past five years. The
effort
achieved national recognition as the largest event of its kind when more
than 650 dogs and cats were spayed or neutered during Spay Day USA 2003.
Dr. Jan Ilkiw, Associate Dean of the UC Davis School of Veterinary
Medicine,
remarks, "We gladly volunteer our resources and expertise for this
extraordinary event to benefit animals and to help in the long-term
fight
against companion animal overpopulation."
Note: High-resolution professional photos from the 2003 Spay Day USA
event
are available from the Sacramento Animal Coalition.
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