The city may be able to get a spay-and-neuter clinic for the cost of providing a surplus building and discounted rent, city councillors will hear April 16.
The clinic would be run by the Ontario SPCA and operate at double the capacity of a similar clinic in Barrie, the report to the city's finance committee says. Able to do 50 procedures a day, it would employ four part-time veterinarians, four veterinary technicians, two administrative staff and a booking agent.
Building renovation and operating costs would be funded by the OSPCA, provided the city is willing to provide a building and a break on monthly rent, the report says.
The OSPCA also proposes an outreach program as part of the clinic, “whereby they would facilitate transportation of animals from First Nations Reserves and remote locations in the north to the clinic and back,” the report says. “This service is to address a need to those who cannot facilitate transportation for their animals.”
Calls for a low-cost spay-and-neuter clinic have been growing in recent years, with large number of unwanted animals being put down because there are no homes for them. The cat population is particularly overpopulated, and the city’s current voucher program offers more coupons for cat procedures than dogs in an attempt to curtail the population.
However, there are a limited number of vouchers, which are weighted 35% for dogs and 65% for cats, and are valued at $65 for a neuter and $115 for a spay procedure regardless of whether it’s a cat or dog.
The clinics are based on the same Humane Alliance Model used in Barrie, offering procedures in the range of $60-$160, compared to $135-$450 under the city’s coupon program.
“With a one-time contribution of real property identified as surplus and reduced rental agreement thereafter, the annual budget may be reduced by the yearly costs of the current Spay-Neuter Coupon Program; approx $55,000,” the report says. “There may be some financial gains in the increase in dog and cat registrations and a reduction in the animal control costs associated with pet overpopulation over the long range.”
However, opposition to the plan may come from the Sudbury Veterinarians’ Association, which argues the clinic amounts to unfair competition in the marketplace.
The association supports another model, where people who could show they need financial assistance would be issued coupons for discounted spay or neutering procedures. College Boreal has told the city it can do up to 300 operations a year, less than the 573 coupons given out each year.
The report recommends against this option, because it doesn’t save money or meet the needs of local shelters overpopulated with unwanted pets. It also recommends against maintaining the status quo, because, among other reasons, the coupon program still prices operations beyond the means of many people.
And the number of dogs and cats being euthanized in Greater Sudbury has surged since 2005, when 291 cats and 75 dogs were killed. That compares to 465 and 100 respectively in 2012.
Within the first two years of operation, the OSPCA in Barrie has operated at no cost and has performed more than 10,000 procedures. The success of the Humane Alliance model is based on a high volume of procedures performed, and is best suited for areas where the population catchment area using the clinic is greater than 250,000.
“This can be achieved in Sudbury, being the only low-cost clinic in northeastern Ontario potentially servicing the surrounding areas of Parry Sound, North Bay, Elliot Lake, Manitoulin Island, Espanola, Timmins and other areas,” the report says.
