National Spay Day Event on February 23
is Scored with a “Perfect 10” by the Cleveland APL

CLEVELAND, OH (February 22, 2010) – As the world focuses on the Olympics, shelter workers are desperately trying to balance the number of dogs and cats born with the numbers of good homes available for them. The Cleveland Animal Protective League (APL) is celebrating national “Spay Day” February 23 by noting that it has performed more than 10,000 spay/neuter surgeries since last year’s event and asking citizens to help Cuyahoga County “win the gold” by making an appointment to have a stray cat spayed or neutered for just $10.

“This is an event where everybody can be a gold medalist,” stated Sharon Harvey, Executive Director of the Cleveland APL. “The streets and shelters of Cleveland will soon face a flood of homeless kittens, but our low-cost Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program for stray cats provides an easy, humane solution to this crisis. While we’re at it, we want to remind all pet owners to have their dogs and cats fixed at an early age – and we offer options for low-income pet owners to help them provide that important care for their pets.”

Felines pose the biggest challenge, but puppies are also at risk. It's estimated that there are some 250,000 feral or "wild" cats living in alleys, behind businesses, and in neighborhood yards in Cuyahoga County, with 75,000 in the City of Cleveland alone. Thousands of puppies will also enter local shelters this year.

Stray and homeless cats in Cuyahoga County can be spayed or neutered for only $10 each through the APL’s TNR program, which operates daily Monday through Friday.  Appointments can be made by calling 216-377-1624. Since cats don’t recognize county lines, anyone from outside Cuyahoga can bring in a stray cat to be fixed for a $25 fee. These fees include sterilization surgery and age appropriate vaccinations. Cats are ear-tipped for identification – meaning a small portion of the left ear is painlessly removed. As many of these outdoor cats can’t be picked up, the APL provides humane traps and instructions on their safe use. Low-income families can have their pet dog or cat altered at a low price at the APL through PetFix’s sliding-fee mobile clinic, by calling 377-1633 and pressing option 1 to sign up.