Taos Feral Feline Friends is off to a running start with a free spay-and-neuter clinic the nonprofit opened in El Prado last May, booking 1,058 appointments and performing 844 surgeries in Q3 2024, according to Bill Mitchell, the organization's media coordinator.
"As expected, the clinic ramped up operations in the third quarter following our opening on May 2," said Leanne Mitchell, Taos Feral Feline Friends president.
From May through August, the clinic completed 1,000 visits and 600 surgeries, which Mitchell estimated saved local residents a total of $200,000 in veterinary bills and put a dent in the county's perennial challenge to keep its stray animal population in check.
The Mitchells were motivated to open the free clinic by a spike in reports of stray animals in Taos County in 2023, plus the lapse of longstanding contracts that allowed Taos town and county animal control officers to deliver loose cats and dogs to Stray Hearts Animal Shelter. Stray Hearts recently hired an interim executive director, announced new board membership and created an advisory council to address reports of management problems that have troubled it in recent years.
In August, Taos Feral Feline Friends was also awarded a Gold Seal of Transparency from Candid, formerly known as GuideStar, for the seventh year in a row, and is currently pursuing additional funding to continue to support its free clinic, which also provides microchipping and vaccinations.
"Regarding public funding, we have received a commitment from the Town of Taos and are discussing possible funding from Taos County," Mitchell said.
The Taos Feral Feline Friends clinic is located at 36 NM 522, #1, in El Prado.
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