Do you know the number one cause of death among companion animals in our city? It’s not starvation, predation, or disease. It’s euthanasia.
In fact New Orleans has one of the largest homeless animal populations in the United States, an estimated 400,000 animals. Last year alone, our local animal shelters were forced to euthanized more than 33,000 companion animals.
Recognizing that the public was seeking an alternative to animal euthanasia, in 1999 Pam Casey and Lynn Chiche formed SpayMart, a local 501(c)3 non-profit organization. It’s goals are to:
1. Address the issue of pet overpopulation by education and aggressive spay/neuter and adoption programs.
2. Reduce the number of euthanized animals.
3. Aid indigent pet owners.
4. Operate a spay/neuter assistance program.
Operating on a shoestring budget, and directing all donations toward the care of animals, SpayMart has managed to contibute substantially to this community by offering the following programs:
- Spay/Neuter assistance: Provides low-cost spay/neuter to animals of indigent pet owners and homeless, feral cats. Based on a voucher system.
- Sanctuary Adoptions: Provides housing and care for over 275 homeless animals annually. Each cat offered for adoption is sterilized, vaccinated and microchipped, thereby avoiding compounding the problem of pet-overpopulation.
- Kitten Foster: Provides veterinarian services including spay/neuter and adoption assistance as an incentive for the public to foster unwanted kittens.
- Feral cat: Provides low-cost spay/neuter services to the public as well as caretakers of feral colonies.
- Felicity Charity: provides life-saving medical treatment to animals of indigent pet owners as well as feral cats, who would otherwise find veterinarian services cost-prohibitive.
- Cat Helpline: Provides education to the public and services available regarding animal welfare.
Spaymart depends upon private donations, corporate sponsors and grants to operate its many programs. If you are sympathetic to the animal welfare issues we address and would like to see our community work continue, please consider joining SpayMart today!
At present the sanctuary is at full capacity and unable to accept animals from the public.
