Bloomington clinic aims to create awareness through NeuterPAlooza

James McNamara, executive director for Pets Alive Spay/Neuter Clinic, said he was not always as passionate about spay/neuter awareness as he is today.

He was serving as deputy mayor in 1996 when he asked someone to give him the worst job in Bloomington for a day. In response to his challenge, he was taken to the city’s animal shelter, where he witnessed animals being euthanized.

“That was a life changing experience,” he said.

After being deputy mayor for 12 years, McNamara began to work for Pets Alive Spay/Neuter Clinic.

Pets Alive is a Bloomington animal clinic that performs neuter and spay surgeries.
To raise awareness for these procedures, Pets Alive and the City of Bloomington declared February Spay/Neuter Bloomington Month.

To commemorate the month, Pets Alive had a NeuterPAlooza Monday. The clinic fixed the first 100 male cats for free from 10:30-11:30 a.m., according to a press release from the clinic. In addition, it also offered discounts on surgeries for dogs and female cats to have the surgery done.

On a typical morning at Pets Alive, animals throughout the cement building can be heard barking and meowing, while others lie quietly on top of newspapers or blankets, recovering from surgery.

A piece of paper marks their weight, name and what shelter they are from. A full 24 hours will pass before they will be allowed out of the kennel and into the world as a neutered pet.

McNamara said this is the first year the city has dedicated an entire month to creating awareness about fixing pets.

February was strategically chosen because, during the spring, many shelters see a drastic increase in the number of unwanted and homeless kittens because of the mating cycle, McNamara said.

One of the ways to control the overpopulation problem is to have the animals neutered or spayed so they don’t produce more animals that will need a home in the future, he said.

“You gotta get a grip on the overpopulation,” he said.

On average, the clinic does about 40 surgeries a day, McNamara said.

Pets Alive transports animals from the Bloomington Animal Shelter, as well as shelters in 14 surrounding counties, so they can be spayed or neutered. The clinic also takes regular customers who want to have their pets neutered.

Virgil Sauder, Bloomington Animal Shelter’s manager, said the shelter sends about five to 10 animals to Pets Alive to be neutered or spayed four times each week.
When the shelter runs out of space or when it has overly aggressive animals, they are euthanized.

In 2009, the shelter took in about 4,839 animals, Sauder said. Of those animals, about 40 percent of them had to be euthanized.

The shelter’s policy states that every animal that’s adopted must be neutered or spayed.

“We don’t have to worry about that animal producing more animals that we will need to find homes for,” Sauder said.

Dr. Steve Sunbury practices at the Seymour Animal Hospital and is the president of the Indiana Veterinary Medical Association. People often worry the surgery will change their pets’ personality, he said.

“There is a very low risk in this day of age,” he said.

McNamara said he often sees people not getting the surgery for their pets because of the cost. The clinic has attempted to keep the cost of the surgeries down in hopes that more people will have their pet neutered or spayed, he said.

“The real key was keeping animals from shelters,” McNamara said.