ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
The abundance of stray animals in Liberal has been a topic of conversations at multiple levels for a long time and soon, the Liberal Animal Shelter will have a way to help with that.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) awarded Liberal Animal Shelter $48,000 to be used for veterinary care services aiming to reduce cat and dog overpopulation. The shelter facilitated low-cost spay/neuter services for 115 dogs and 113 cats during 2024 using a similar grant, and Shelter Director Tara Logan said she and her staff were very pleased to get more grant funding.
“It's great we ended up receiving this grant, and we feel great because this will really help us help the community. The demand for low-cost spay/neuter clinics was much higher than I'd anticipated,” Logan said. “Last year, during the clinics we were able to do, we did absolutely as many as we could and every slot was full, and the demand was so high there were people who didn't get in who wanted to. We applied for the grant in December and then got the official word we were getting the funds in January, so it was a somewhat quick turnaround. With this grant funding for this year, that will help us host eight of those clinics, and I'm happy we'll be able to help Liberal – if we're able to alter 20 dogs and 30 cats each clinic, that's 160 dogs and 240 cats more who have been taken care of. In addition to the spay and neuter procedures, the clinic services will also include rabies vaccine administration and microchipping services, if needed, and Parvo and Bordetella vaccines will be offered for an additional $10, so it’s all well worth it. We feel great being able to do this, it's something Liberal hasn't really had in a long time that's been needed. During my time here so far, I've learned these clinics are something Liberal desperately needs, so being able to start doing these clinics on a regular basis makes us feel really good.”
And Logan said the shelter staff will definitely not be shy about spreading the word about the upcoming clinics.
“We'll be posting information on the Liberal Animal Shelter Facebook page, the City of Liberal Facebook page, and we'll also be talking to people throughout town and other media outlets in town. Any way we can help spread the word, we will definitely use,” Logan said.
With the additional clinics being offered, Logan said she hopes pet owners in Liberal take advantage of the services.
“We're still working on getting all the dates fully scheduled and nailed down, but at the moment, we're looking at is one two-day clinic every month for eight months, and we'll probably start that around April simply because of logistics and other circumstances,” Logan said. “And these clinics are exhausting, to be honest, because our staff is small and there's just a lot of work that goes on during those days, but it's all worth it to help the community. I'm hoping to get the dates finalized soon and spread the word about when the clinics will be online and through local media as quickly as possible so people can find a date that will work for them. With these clinics, you must be a Liberal resident. And there are multiple other benefits to using one of the clinics because it's much cheaper to register an altered pet and it helps prevent unwanted litters, which, unfortunately, we see a lot of. As a shelter, we feel it's our job to help take care of the pets in Liberal because while it was great helping people who came in from other towns, we definitely missed some local residents. Last year, we had pet owners come in from Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, along with some neighboring communities, and it was A LOT to deal with. We're going to start by helping just Liberal residents, and if things move along enough to where we can open these clinics to people from out of town, I would absolutely be open to doing that. But right now, our focus should be on Liberal residents and the pets in town.”
The events will be a win-win for everyone, Logan added.
“It would be absolutely wonderful to see all of the clinics completely full, because that means we're doing our job and doing what the city needs. Last year, we got a lot of feedback on our process, and we made adjustments with basically each clinic,” Logan said. “One of the biggest critiques we got was from people who had to work and didn't have the time to come in, so this year, once I have all the dates finalized, we'll announce them all at once so people can look at them and see what would work for them so they can come in. The overall process will be roughly the same because the people will come in the week before the clinic, pay for their spot and sign all the necessary paperwork. There's also a lot of behind-the-scenes work we have to do to make sure everything goes smoothly and goes how it's supposed to. I feel like if we release all the dates at once, that will make people start thinking and start planning not just for that day, but the week before when they come in and take care of the payment and paperwork and everything else. It will all be first come, first served, we won't take any reservations ahead of time, and we'll also spread the word reminding people when sign-ups will be and then when the actual clinics will be, so there's no reason for people not to know these events will be going on.”
Overall, Logan said, she and her staff hope the upcoming clinics ultimately end up being successful.
“Not only are we spaying/neutering these animals, we're also microchipping them, like I said earlier. The spaying and neutering is beneficial not only to the community, but also the overall health of the animal, so everyone ultimately wins,” Logan said. “The microchipping is also hugely beneficial because we can scan those chips to see who that animal belongs to and then take them home without having to bring them to the shelter. This is a great grant, and it's something we would absolutely want to apply for again, because I feel like we'll be able to help a lot of people. And in the summer, we might even put out a call for volunteers, so if you're a high school student looking for some community service hours, this would be a great way to get those, or maybe you're a community member looking for a way to help. I'm hoping this grant, used in this way, will help with our stray population, because unfortunately, a lot of those animals come from unwanted litters, like I said earlier. A lot of people have a dog that has a big litter of puppies and they don't know what to do with them, so they just let them wander around, but if a dog is spayed, she can't get pregnant even if she gets away from home. Overall, it should be a win-win for everyone.”
