Fort Smith spay/neuter clinic gets big donation from PetSmart

The River Valley Animal Welfare Coalition has received a $68,000 grant from PetSmart Charities to help support a new spay and neuter clinic soon to open in the Quarry Shopping Center in Fort Smith.

Clinic Veterinarian Deborah Waggener will be joined by two assistants and a clinic director to begin managing a backlog of about 500 requests to spay and neuter pets. The PetSmart donation will help fund new medical equipment and surgery supplies.

In addition to the PetSmart donation, the clinic has received about $60,000 in donations from area businesses and individuals and the work to renovate the clinic space was donated, according to Pam Weber, a member of the coalition board.

A coalition statement said the spay and neuter clinic is part of the Humane Alliance National Spay Neuter Response Team based in Asheville, N.C. According to the River Valley coalition’s Web site, the clinic “is to provide low cost spay/neuter services as a non-lethal solution to the stray, unwanted and abandoned pet populations in the Arkansas River Valley so that euthanasia is no longer an acceptable means of population control.”

“We are excited to provide this spay/neuter program at our facility,” Philip Merry Jr., coalition board president, said in a statement. “This is a much needed service for our area’s pets, pet owners and the entire River Valley region.”

Weber said the coalition hopes to open the clinic by July 14 with the staff and equipment ready to handle up to 35 procedures a day.