New Shelter Hours Begin April 4

Starting April 4, 2012, our new hours wil be as follows:

Tuesday, Friday and Saturday - 12 pm - 4:30 pm
Wednesday and Thursday - 12 pm - 6 pm
Closed Sunday and Monday

APF Receives $50K Spay/Neuter Grant

Posted 2/29/12

ANIMAL PROTECTIVE FOUNDATION RECEIVES $50,000 GRANT FROM
WRIGHT FAMILY FOUNDATION FOR SPAY/NEUTER CLINIC

Scotia – The Animal Protective Foundation (APF) has been named recipient of a $50,000 grant by the Wright Family Foundation of Schenectady. This gift will be used for expansion of the APF’s Community Spay/Neuter Program, which provides low-cost services for pet owners in the Greater Capital Region. In addition to the outright grant of $50,000, the Wright Family Foundation will match all subsequent funds raised, dollar for dollar, up to a maximum of $25,000, making the total grant opportunity $75,000. The APF will be working hard to these matching contributions in order to be eligible for the additional funds.

Since 2006 this program has provided over 15,000 surgeries for cats belonging to Capital Region pet owners who otherwise could not have afforded to have them altered.

According to Executive Director Rosalie Ault, “Our present surgical suite was never intended to accommodate the volume of surgery we are now doing. We plan to build a facility that will provide the space needed to perform more low-cost surgeries on both cats and dogs.”

Construction of the 2,500 square foot clinic and equipment will total upwards of $700,000 of which $245,000 has been raised through grants and donations. The Foundation’s annual Tails by Twilight event, which will be held on May 17 at Glen Sanders Mansion, is the next major fundraiser for this effort.

Ault continued, “Like all of the services we provide, this program would not be a burden to taxpayers, but would continue to be a program that is financially self-sustaining.”

The pet overpopulation crisis across the U.S. and here in our Capital Region communities is a result of unplanned, unwanted litters that could have been prevented by spaying or neutering.

Consider these startling statistics:

• Each day in the U.S. 10,000 humans are born and 70,000 kittens and puppies are born.
• Cats can have their first litter at just 5 months; littermates can breed.
• An unaltered female and male producing 2 litters per year with 2.8 surviving kittens per litter will produce 12 kittens in one year, 11,801 in five years and by the ninth year over 11 million kittens.
 (source SpayUSA)

While sheltering and rehoming animals comprise the majority of the APF’s work, continuing to allocate the bulk of resources to animal care and adoption will never eliminate the steady flow of homeless animals into the shelter, now roughly 2,600 per year.

“In order to have a real impact on the numbers we must prevent more companion animals from becoming homeless in the first place. The solution requires a proactive approach and that is high-volume, high-quality, low-cost spay/neuter. According to PetSmart Charities, for every dog or cat that is spayed or neutered, we prevent the births of 55 animals with no place to call home,” said Ault. “We are on the right track and this new surgical center will be integral to realizing our goal.”

Spay/neuter appointments for cats and kittens may be scheduled through our partner organizations:

> Cat Tales: (518) 952-0356
> Noah’s Kingdom/Cat Care Coalition: (518) 466-8484
> Montgomery County SPCA: (518) 842-8050 (residents of Montgomery County)
> Robin’s Nest: (518) 779-3020

The fee is $80 and includes testing for FIV/FeLV and rabies vaccination.

For further information contact Marguerite Pearson, Director of Communications, at (518) 374-3944, ext. 113.

Watch Our Anniversary Video

This video was created especially for our 80th anniversary. It provides an overview of our past and exciting plans for the future. We are especially proud of it because it was produced by two APF animal care technicians. Ramon Pruisscher did the video production and Richard Schellinger did the audio production. (We had no idea we had such talent in house!) We would also like to thank our "computer guy" Walter Guiles for doing the voice over. (We asked him because he has a nice voice.) The adorable animation at the start of the video was created by MZA Multimedia. Our most sincere thanks to all these talented friends. Enjoy!

Spay/Neuter Program Expansion

The Tragedy of Pet Overpopulation

“There is no disease or condition of companion animals that takes more of their lives than euthanasia.”
Janet M. Scarlett, DVM, MPH, PhD, Professor of Epidemiology, Cornell University

This powerful statement speaks to the magnitude and tragedy of the pet overpopulation crisis both nationally and right here within our own community. Quite simply, it is a direct result of unwanted, unplanned litters that could have been prevented by spaying or neutering.

The APF has long understood that in order to have a real impact on the number of homeless and unwanted animals, we need to prevent more companion animals from becoming homeless in the first place. That is why we led the way in 1996 by becoming the region’s first humane organization to offer in-shelter spay/ neuter prior to adoption.

Today our efforts have expanded far beyond helping shelter pets. In the past two years our Community Spay/Neuter Program has provided an average of 3,000 surgeries for cats and kittens. It is a major accomplishment, not only for the APF, but also for the organizations who partner with us to make it happen. Yet the need is so much greater than we can fulfill.

It’s clear that continuing to devote the bulk of our resources to sheltering and adoption, as we have for the past 80 years, will never influence the numbers of animals coming into the shelter. The solution requires a proactive approach and that is high-volume, high-quality, low-cost spay/neuter.

It’s important to note that all of the services the APF provides, including spay/neuter, are delivered without burden to taxpayers. Our current program is financially self-sustaining and as we expand it we will continue to ensure that it pays for itself. However funding is needed to build a larger surgical facility.

The Solution

In addition to an average of 3,000 low-cost feline surgeries for the public, we perform an additional 1,000 spays and neuters on shelter dogs and cats. However our present surgical suite was never intended to accommodate the volume of surgery we are now doing. 

An expanded surgical facility will provide the space needed to operate more effectively, also allowing us to perform dog surgeries for the public. We estimate that a 1,500 square foot clinic will cost between $500,000 and $600,000, depending on size and materials.

APF's staff veterinarian, Dr. Julie Whipple, performs all surgeries.