Marion County Animal Services recently announced the return of its Neuter Commuter, a mobile unit that aims to combat the county’s growing number of homeless animals.
This mobile unit, which typically travels countywide to bring services to residents, will temporarily be performing low-cost spay and neuter procedures onsite at the Marion County Animal Center located at 5701 SE 66th Street in Ocala.
“Housing this second surgical unit onsite doubles Animal Services’ capacity and helps to combat the growing number of homeless animals that has outpaced the number of available homes,” stated Animal Services in a press release on Friday.
According to Animal Services, the Neuter Commuter services are available for cats and dogs, with a weight limit of 65 pounds for dogs.
To schedule an appointment for the county’s sterilization services, click here to complete the online appointment request form. A scheduler from Animal Services will then use the contact information provided on the request form to finalize the appointment.
Services for larger dogs and additional surgical availability may be obtained by other agencies within the community. To view a list of local partners offering low-cost, spay-neuter services, visit Marion County’s Neuter Commuter webpage.
The growing number of homeless pets in Marion County includes the increasing number of “community cats” or felines who have adapted to outside life and require little to no care from their human neighbors.
PetSmart Charities uses a standard formula based on research to estimate populations of community cats within an area, which is to divide the human population by 15. That would equate to nearly 27,000 community cats in Marion County, according to Animal Services.
“Combating the growing number of homeless animals within our community requires more resources than the county’s two surgical units,” stated Animal Services in the press release.
To help increase the community’s capacity to provide spay and neuter surgeries to local cat providers, the Marion County Board of County Commissioners has approved grant funding to CATT Marion, a nonprofit group consisting of rescues, clinics, advocates, trappers, transporters, fosters, and volunteers.
Cat Alliance from Tips to Tails, CATT Marion, serves as a local resource to improve the overall welfare of cats within our community. The group is comprised of Marion County Animal Services, Quality of Life Rehab & Foster, Sheltering Hands, and Voices of Change Animal League (VOCAL).
For more information, click here or contact Marion County Animal Services at 352-671-8700.