Paws Inn provides pet-friendly service to community

SEARCY — The Paws Inn No Kill Animal Shelter is striving to stop the problem of pet overpopulation in its tracks. The nonprofit organization in Searcy has been offering low-cost spay and neuter services to qualifying pet owners for six years, and the shelter has no plans to slow down in its fight to eradicate this epidemic.

At last count, the number of dogs and cats that the Paws Inn’s spay-and-neuter program had serviced stood at 523.

“No matter what anybody says, the only way to stop overpopulation of animals is through spaying and neutering,” said Janet Berkley, public relations officer for Paws Inn. “We wish every rescue and shelter group wouldn’t let animals go without it.”

Paws Inn works with Wadley & Watson Veterinary Clinic in Searcy to provide spaying-and-neutering services to pet owners who have an annual income of $35,000 or less. The cost to the pet owner is from $25 to $35, with Paws Inn picking up the tab for the remainder of the procedure. The cost of the surgery normally ranges from $107 for a small dog to $193 for an animal over 80 pounds, according to Christina Brown, office manager at Wadley & Watson Veterinary Clinic.

“They are providing a wonderful service for people who want to help animals,” Brown said. “There should be more like it, and we hope they will continue. Programs like this do cut down on the animal population.” Paws Inn doesn’t receive grant funding for the program and pays for the surgery fees through donations.

The 500th pet and owner to reap the benefits of Paws Inn’s low-cost spay-and-neuter program were B.J. Van Tassell and her cat Possum. Van Tassell recalled that Possum was one of a litter of kittens whose mother had been killed. She said he got his name because his pointy white face reminded her of the often nocturnal opossums that roam in central Arkansas.

“I’m glad that they were able to help out with getting him neutered,” Van Tassell said of Paws Inn, where she has volunteered in the past. “Money is tight, and I knew I needed to get it done. There are so many unwanted animals out there. It just breaks my heart.” Just one unspayed female cat and her offspring can result in 420,000 kittens over the span of seven years, according to research from the Humane Society.

Applications for the low-cost service are available at Paws Inn’s mini flea market. The market is open from noon to 4 p.m. Thursdays, from noon to 4:30 p.m. Fridays, and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays at 1136 S. Benton St. in Searcy.

“We wish we could say that what we have done has made a dent in the numbers of unwanted animals, but it’s just a drop in the bucket,”

Berkley said of the numbers of animals that are left to roam the streets and back roads of White County. “We want everybody who has a pet to know just how important this is.”

The group is working toward its goal of building a state-of-the-art no-kill shelter to house unwanted and abandoned animals in White County. The total cost of the structure is estimated at $575,000, and Berkley said Paws Inn is about halfway toward raising the needed funds. She said Paws Inn members traveled to several shelters in the region to get ideas on what to include and exclude from the building plans.

“Our shelter will definitely have more animal space than people space,” Berkley said. “When we toured facilities, we found that a lot of them had more office space for people than they did room for the animals. Our shelter will be all about the animals.”

For information about Paws Inn’s low-cost spay-and-neuter service, volunteering opportunities or donations, call (501) 230-3342 or visit Paws Inn’s Facebook page.

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