Officials monitor mobile neutering van

When the van carrying the mobile animal clinic lumbers into a parking lot, a line of cat owners forms immediately as veterinarians begin setting up their makeshift operating room for free and low-cost spaying and neutering.

Pet owners are seeking assurance that their cats will emerge unharmed by anesthesia and from an operation that prevents them from breeding.

The van staff can handle about three dozen spay and neuter procedures a day. Since April, the clinic has stopped at various locations throughout the county about twice a week.

The number of animals undergoing spaying or neutering by the Humane Society has increased as the agency as focused efforts on reducing population. In the year the Humane Society abandoned its old facility, there were 733 procedures performed and this fiscal year there were 3,145.

But Sonoma County and Santa Rosa officials, whose agencies provide most of the funding, are also watching, checking to see whether these van visits are attracting pet owners who might not otherwise get birth control for their animals.

"We made a commitment for another couple months to see how the program goes," said Pat Fruiht, assistant Santa Rosa city manager. "I am not convinced yet of the numbers."

The Humane Society's van effort has been criticized by some animal welfare activists for not trying hard enough to reach out to low income pet owners who are most in need of free or low-cost spay and neutering programs.

Humane Society officials defend their effort, saying they advertise mobile animal clinic visits in Spanish-language newspapers and radio and they post notices in neighborhoods.

"If we try to qualify everyone who walks through the door, it would be a big administrative headache." said Dr. Richard Bachman, the society's veterinarian. "The targeted marketing and the location will get the low income pet owners we want."

If that doesn't happen, Fruiht said the city would likely return to offering discount coupons to low income residents who can use them at any veterinary clinic, including the Humane Society.

The city and county are contributing about $1,250 a day for van visits in their jurisdictions, with the Humane Society putting in another $600 to cover costs.

"We hope this opens a new door to take the surgical procedures to the community," said Humane Society director Scott Anderson.

Humane Society officials concede mobile van visits were slow to start this year and missed much of the traditional "kitty season" when cats give birth. Cats, not dogs, are targeted in these clinics because pet owners seem to feel less responsible

"Our dog problem is behavior and the cat problem is overpopulation," Bachman said. "It is easy to see a cat as a wild animal."

The van was purchased by volunteers and is owned by the Sonoma County Animal Care and Control Division. But the county office decided it didn't have the medical staff to operate it, so the van is being loaned to the Humane Society, which contracts for van visits with cities and with groups such as Pets Lifeline and Forgotten Felines.

On Tuesday, the mobile animal clinic will be at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds and on Wednesday it will be at Forgotten Felines. Information and appointments are available by calling 579-SPAY.