So this weekend, close to 300 cats were spayed or neutered and got vaccines — all for free.
"We have four surgical tables at our shelter, we had a surgeon for every table," said Blake Martin, ACCT's communications and development specialist. He credited the weekend's success to their community cat coordinator, Catadelphia, and volunteers like veterinary surgeons.
"A cat can have three to four litters per year — a lot of that is intake at the shelter," explained Martin. "We are the only open intake shelter in Philadelphia. So if it comes in our doors, we take it, period."
Martin said the TNR clinic will help the city as a whole, as spayed and neutered cats cause fewer problems for the public.
"They don't have the crazy hormones of a cat that is trying to find a mate," he explained. "We get less fighting that leads to fewer injuries. We've all heard that late night cat howl. That's from an unspayed, unneutered cat that is out there looking for a mate. And a spayed and neutered cat also stays closer to home."
Martin said it was nice to give the cats at the shelter attention since they make up two-thirds of ACCT's animals.