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The need for spay and neuter, by the numbers6 million-8 million: Number of cats and dogs entering shelters each year.3 million-4 million: Number of cats and dogs euthanized by shelters each year.3: Average number of litters a fertile cat can produce in one year.4-6: Average number of kittens in a feline litter.420,000: Number of cats one female cat and her offspring can theoretically produce in seven years.2: Average number of litters a fertile dog can produce in one year.6-10: Average number of puppies in a canine litter.67,000: Number of dogs one female dog and her offspring can theoretically produce in six years.Source: Humane Society of the United States
Chattanooga is gaining a new low-cost spay and neuter clinic with the founding of ChattaNeuter, a nonprofit organization which has purchased the old Brainerd Animal Hospital to serve as its location.
ChattaNeuter will provide professional, high-quality, subsidized spay and neuter services to the pets of low-income residents of Hamilton County, as well as animals housed at local shelters and rescues awaiting adoption. The goal is to reduce unnecessary euthanasia of cats and dogs and to empower people in the community to responsibly care for their pets, said the organization’s founder, Karen Walsh.
Walsh is the former executive director of McKamey Animal Center who went on to work for PetSmart Charities. When that company underwent corporate restructuring and her position was eliminated, she started to explore ways she could again help meet the needs of animals in the Chattanooga area.
In speaking with several people and organizations involved with animal services locally, it became clear that there is a need in Hamilton County for ChattaNeuter’s services, she said. The organization found the former Brainerd Animal Hospital building at 5590 Brainerd Road, where Dr. William Atkins practiced from 1959 until he passed away in 2014, to be an ideal location because of its proximity to the highway and to the Humane Educational Society, for which the clinic will provide services.