Does your animal shelter or rescue offer low-cost or even free spay and neuter services? A spay day event in our area recently was not fully booked with appointments for the procedure. Our community has many people needing financial help to take care of their pets. Our rescues and shelters are overrun with homeless pets. Maybe pet owners just didn\u2019t know about the very low-cost services available that day. How do you get the word out? And how can you educate people about spaying\/neutering? Here are a few ideas:<\/p>\n
\u2014 Ask all the veterinarians in your community to post your spay \/ neuter information on their bulletin boards. Also prepare a flyer that they can hand out to clients who ask about spay\/neuter but may not have the funds to pay for private veterinarian services. Veterinarians may balk at this and view your services as too competitive with theirs. But many pet owners don\u2019t have the funds to pay for spay\/neuter services at a veterinarian\u2019s office and need advice on other options.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Ask pet food stores in your area, both big-box chains, and independents, to post your flyers on their bulletin boards. Provide extra flyers to include in sacks and packaging.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Ask teenagers in your area to help spread the word on any social networking sites they use, such as Facebook.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Publish a page about your spay\/neuter program on your website and link to it from your home page.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Ask other pet-related businesses or organizations such as dog trainers, groomers, and boarding facilities to link to your spay\/neuter page. Ask them to post flyers as well.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Does your local newspaper and\/or TV station(s) feature pets on certain days of the week? Ask that they provide a community service by helping you publicize your spay\/neuter services. They could mention the services in print or online and provide your website address to get more information.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Ask your local newspaper and\/or TV station to write a story about spay\/neutering in terms of the lives that can be saved. Publish specific numbers of homeless pets in your community and how many are euthanized each year. Use real statistics to help explain the importance of spaying and neutering to help stop the killing of homeless pets.<\/p>\n
Maybe you offer these services at certain times of the year. Or maybe you\u2019re offering these services every day based on income qualification. Some shelters offer low-cost vaccinations also. Be sure your written information is specific on how to obtain these services with a telephone number and email address for obtaining more information.<\/p>\n