As part of an ongoing effort to address the feline overpopulation in northern Santa Barbara County, Santa Barbara Humane will offer cat owners the chance to have their cat spayed or neutered for free at Santa Barbara Humane’s Santa Maria campus.
The free spay and neuter surgeries, made possible thanks to a donation from ResQCats, are a safe, humane way to prevent unwanted litters of kittens, according to Santa Barbara Humane.
An unaltered female cat can birth as many as 180 kittens in her lifetime, and those kittens often end up among the 3.2 million cats who enter animal shelters annually, Santa Barbara Humane reports.
Surgical sterilization also provides health benefits to cats, according to Dr. Katie Marrie, Santa Barbara Humane’s chief veterinary officer.
“Spaying your female pet helps reduce the risk of mammary cancer and uterine infection, and neutering males prevents them from getting testicular cancer,” she said.
To help prevent overpopulation of feral cats, Santa Barbara Humane will also host a Community Cat Spay Days at the Santa Maria campus.
On Thursday, April 11 and Wednesday, April 24, community members can bring in an unlimited number of unowned community cats for free spay and neuter services.
Drop off for Community Cat Spay Day will be at 7:15 a.m. All community cats should be brought in a trap; traps are available from Santa Barbara Humane’s Santa Maria campus.
Community Cat Spay Days are part of Santa Barbara Humane’s Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program, which is designed to fast-track healthy cats back to their homes and neighborhoods, preserving space in the shelter for surrendered, displaced, sick, injured, and abused cats.
Volunteers and other community members trap cats and bring them to Santa Barbara Humane’s Santa Maria veterinary clinic, where they receive a health exam, vaccinations, spay/neuter surgery, and other necessary procedures and services. The animals are then returned to where they were found.
In 2023, 758 feral cats were spayed at Santa Barbara Humane, representing a 154% increase from the previous year. Between its two campuses, the Santa Barbara Humane provided surgical sterilization for 7,388 animals last year, a 27% increase from 2022.
Previous Community Cat Spay Days saw as many as 77 cats spayed or neutered in a single day, but Santa Barbara Humane said it hopes to see even more feral cats at this year’s events.
To learn more about helping community cats and Community Cat Spay Days, visit sbhumane.org/community-cats.
While appointments are not necessary for the Community Cat Spay Day events, all other visits to Santa Barbara Humane’s veterinary clinic, including those for free spay or neuter surgeries, are by appointment only. To book appointments, visit sbhumane.org/clinic or call 805-964-4777, ext. 205.