FORT SMITH, Ark. — Spanish version: Para español haga click aqui.
Fort Smith Board of Directors approved a spay and neuter program on Thursday, Jan. 18, which caters toward lower income residents.
"We have seen an increase in the stray pet population, and I think this will help reduce that," Josh Buchfink, public relations manager for the City of Fort Smith, said. "It allows low-income residents basically get their pet spayed and neutered, free of charge, at participating veterinary clinics."
In March 2023, directors approved an animal ordinance that required all cats and dogs to be spayed and neutered, microchipped, and vaccinated for rabies. Buchfink said this program will give residents, who make under $24,000, four $100 vouchers per household. These vouchers can be used at participating vet clinics.
"$100 per pet that goes towards the spay and neuter. It also goes towards rabies vaccination, it also goes towards microchipping your pet," Buchfink said.
The city also approved a resolution that creates a program for the feral cat population in the city. Residents can trap cats, bring them to a vet clinic to neuter or spay them, and release them back into their habitat. Vet providers will be paid for this service.
"And what people do is they capture feral cats. They'll take them to get sterilized and then return them back to where they captured them from," Buchfink said. "It's really a very helpful way to control the pet population in an area because feral cat populations can get out of hand very quickly."
Rick Bennett, director of operations for Fort Smith Animal Haven said a program like this can help cut down on the number of homeless animals anytime a pet is lost or roaming outside and is not spayed or neutered.
"In the long term, it's going to make it to where we hopefully won't even have a job," Bennett said. "When people can afford to go get your animals fixed, then it's going to sure cut down on what we have coming in here."
He said sometimes when they get stray animals in and they are not spayed or neutered, they can't return them back to their owners until they are. This could result in keeping less animals in the shelter.
"If they were already spayed or neutered, then they could just come here, pick them up, and they would be done with so it would cut off the days for us having to hold them for them to be able to get them back," Bennett said.
Buchfink said the city is still working to partner with vet clinics that will accept the vouchers. Once they're available within the next few weeks, residents can apply for them online using a first-come, first-serve basis.
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