A key piece in addressing the steady stream of unwanted and abandoned pets involves turning off the faucet.

Effective this year for any pet owner on government assistance, the Pet Fix program will provide free spay-neuter surgery for up to two pets a month at a participating clinic. Those with more than two pets may still apply for the services, but will require a subsequent visit.

Government assistance might include Section 8 housing, the state’s Medicaid program commonly known as AHCCCS or food stamps.

Folks also can qualify for the pet sterilization services if they live in one of 16 residential areas, regardless of government assistance. The program is sponsored in part by the Pima County Health Department and administered by the Animal Welfare Alliance of Southern Arizona.

In Central Tucson, for example, any resident within the core area bounded on the west by Interstate 10, Prince Road to the north, Columbus Boulevard to the east and Speedway to the south is eligible for assistance. Other neighborhoods include PuebloGardens,  Littletown, Midvale Park, Barrio Hollywood, Three Points, Picture Rocks, Flowing Wells, Catalina,  Ajo,  Arivaca, the City of South Tucson, Avra Valley, and the Pascua Yaqui and Tohono O’odham communities.

Participating clinics include:

• Ajo Veterinary Clinic, 382 W. Ajo Way, 623-5728
• Animal Birth Control, 1145 S. Craycroft Road, 745-4564
• Arizona Spay/Neuter Clinic, 4 W. Grant Road, 624-5005
• Guadalupe Veterinary Clinic, 5107 S. 12th Ave., 889-5949
• Humane Society of Southern Arizona, 3450 N. Kelvin Blvd., 881-0321
• Santa Cruz Veterinary Clinic, 5408 S. 12th Ave., 889-9643
• The Spay and Neuter Clinic, 7340 Cortaro Farms Road, 744-3458

A few other items of note:

• Dogs must be on leashes or in carriers; cats must be in carriers.
• Pets should not have any food after 6 p.m. the day before the surgery, although water is fine.
• Pets must be between the ages of 2 months and 5 years, and weigh at least 3 pounds.
• Appointments are available on a first-call, first-serve basis.

For more information, please visit http://www.awasa.org/awasa/

This entry was posted on Friday, February 15th, 2013 at 12:13 pm and is filed under Health, Pima County, Southern Arizona, Tucson. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.