FORT SMITH, Ark. — Back in in January, the Fort Smith Board of Directors approved a spay and neuter voucher program that caters to lower-income residents.
"[It] is $100 towards a spay and neuter, a rabies vaccination and microchip, just so people can easily get this procedure done, and help control the pet population in Fort Smith," said Josh Buchfink, public relations manager for the City of Fort Smith.
The animal ordinance requires all cats and dogs to be spayed and neutered, microchipped, and vaccinated for rabies. Each qualifying household will receive four $100 vouchers. Buchfink said it's based on if you are 200% over the poverty line. For example, a one-person household qualifies if they make $24,849 or less.
"I think a lot of people want to do this, but we understand that people are living month to month, paycheck to paycheck right now, so it's an opportunity for them to take care of their pets, but also do it at a reduced cost," Buchfink said.
Since the program went into effect six months ago, it has seen success. Buchfink said surrounding participating clinics have spayed or neutered 850 animals.
The deadline to use the current vouchers is Sept. 1. Buchfink said there are a lot of vouchers checked out but not used.
"What we began to see is that a lot of people were signing up for the voucher, but they weren't being used at the same rate that people were signing up for them," Buchfink said. "We have about 2,500 vouchers that are out in the system right now. Only 850 of them have been used."
After Sept. 1, those unused vouchers will expire and open up more space for new people to apply.
Kitties and Kanines Pet Resource Center is one of the clinics that takes the vouchers. Dr. Ashley Smith said they see multiple people use them every day.
"I think it's making a huge impact," Smith said. "We have had so many people come in who could never have come in, even us as a low-cost clinic, still couldn't have come to see us, but now they're able to."
Smith said these vet bills can be a huge burden to pet owners.
"A lot of the reasons pets either end up on the streets or end up in shelters is because the owners can't afford to keep them," Smith said. "When we can get these animals healthcare, they can stay in their homes."
"They both said this is a step in the right direction for controlling the city's stray pet population.
"We see an incredible amount of strays, dumped animals, just community feral cats. It's really bad here," Smith said. "I'm really hoping that in the next, you know, five to seven years if this program really grows large enough, we will see the effects. We will see a reduction in our shelter animals. We will see the reduction of animals wandering the streets."
"I think this is a long-term strategy," Buchfink said. "We're not going to see stray populations go down immediately, but over the course of two to five years, we're going to see those numbers decrease."
Other participating clinics are Fort Smith Veterinary Clinic, Fort Smith Veterinary Wellness and Urgent Care, and Vetco Total Care.
To see if you qualify for the program, visit the city's website here.
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