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Neuter Scooter Rides to the Rescue

April 15, 2009, 10:26AM MT

By Cheri Moon

Mobile Clinic Makes Spay/Neuter Services Affordable

Mobile Clinic Makes Spay/Neuter Services Affordable

By Stephanie Rommel, Best Friends Network Volunteer

One of the obstacles in treating the overpopulation of feral cats is the cost of spaying and neutering. The Neuter Scooter, a low-cost mobile veterinary clinic, provides this invaluable service for ferals and all other cats, too—sorry, no dogs.

Catching the Feral Bug
Approximately 85% of the cats that the Neuter Scooter sterilizes are ferals and strays. What warms the heart of co-founder and veterinarian Tess Peavy is seeing the transformation that people make between when they first drop off a stray and when they pick it up.

When dropping off a feral or stray, people walk into the clinic with a cat they perceive as a “problem.” But, when they pick up the cat and pay for its surgery, a change happens. Their “problem” transforms into “their” cat. Without realizing it, these people make a commitment, and the cat now has somebody who cares about it.

“It brings a tear to my eye,” says Peavy.

Both Dr. Peavy and her partner, Oscar Armendariz, veterinary assistant, love ferals. They are TNR (trap/neuter/return) practitioners themselves and offer a special program for ferals that includes a spay/neuter surgery, rabies and Fel-O-Vax 4—all for $20 per cat.

The Neuter Scooter currently services Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Florida, Oregon and Hawaii. Without a doubt, more locations and additional veterinarians are planned.

Tattooing Versus Ear Tipping
The Neuter Scooter tattoos ferals in their left ears during surgery at no additional cost. While ear tipping is a well-known procedure that identifies a sterilized feral, Peavy believes it could mean a death sentence if picked up by animal control.

“Animal control will euthanize any cat that has been ear tipped and won’t hold it as a stray hold. Ear tipping can be confused with frostbite in colder climates, and ear notching can look like the aftermath of a nasty catfight. So, I prefer tattooing,” Peavy says. She also tattoos the bellies of female cats in addition to their left ears. Peavy advocates microchip IDs for ferals, too. It becomes a lifesaver if they get captured, because the locations of their colonies or caregivers appear on the microchip.

A Feral Family
With Bloomington, Indiana as home base, Peavy and Armendariz make their “on-the-go” venture a family affair with the help of their children; Job, Gabriel, Elijah and Aria.

Neuter Scooter is a family affair. Top left - Dr. Tess Peavy, Oscar Armendariz and Job. Front: Elijah, Gabriel and Aria.

“We try to take care of 10, 000 cats a year,” states Peavy. “Yet we exceed that number each year.” Once in Hawaii she sterilized 160 ferals in one day.

Armendariz laughs as he recalls a very hot, sticky day during a clinic for the Vincennes, Indiana Humane Society. The clinic’s back door was left open for extra air. An extremely pregnant feral, who for years had persistently evaded all the traps, “checked” herself into the clinic by walking right in the back door and getting “fixed”... finally!

Since 2002, the Neuter Scooter goes wherever it is needed. Peavy explains it’s usually just one person in a community or a public official that contacts them. Sometimes humane organizations gather cats and ferals in volume and meet the Neuter Scooter in public locations, like a mall parking lot.

Have Mobile Clinic, Will Travel
Jocelyn Bouchard, CEO of the Maui Humane Society says “Neuter Scooter is fabulous and has assisted us over the past few years in spaying/neutering hundreds of feral cats. They make everything simple and are a very self-sufficient group. And, we love it when they visit, because the whole family is involved.”

The Maui Humane Society partners with the Feline Foundation of Maui to sponsor these clinics. The Neuter Scooter visited Maui in February and is returning in June.

Anita Barron, Director of The Pet Alliance and Spay Ohio in the Cincinnati area is amazed how many cats Peavy can sterilize in one clinic. “I’ve seen her do surgery on 125 cats,” Barron says. “Neuter Scooter has the most hands-off approach of anyone coming into a community.”

Pre-registration and all appointments are handled directly through the Neuter Scooter’s website. Barron explains, “It doesn’t require us to do pre-registration before it comes, and it doesn’t need any of us on hand to collect the payments. All we have to do is ensure a warm, safe place for the cats to recover following surgery.”

Without being asked, Cathy Bonewell volunteers at the Neuter Scooter clinics because she admires Peavy and her work. Bonewell is the Spay/Neuter Coordinator for Purrfect Friends Cat Rescue in the Greater Cincinnati, Ohio region. Bonewell says, “She (Peavy) is such a good and gifted surgeon. Neuter Scooter has everything down to a science—it’s tremendous.”

The Neuter Scooter will be in Norwood, Ohio this Saturday, April 18, sponsored by Purrfect Friends Cat Rescue.

“We love the kitties,” says Armendariz. “I always say I’ve hugged more ferals than any other person in the world…after they’re sedated, of course.”

For More Information
• To obtain more information, schedule an appointment, or find out where Neuter Scooter will be, visit The Neuter Scooter.

How You Can Help
• Learn more about how you can help community cats in your area by joining the Feral Cat Campaign on the Best Friends’ Network.

Photos courtesy of The Pet Alliance.
Posted by Cheri Moon, Best Friends Staff

Comments

Posted April 17, 2009, 9:24AM by kwalton

I find the comment about animal control euthanizing ear tipped cats very disturbing. In Chicago where I do tnr ear tipping is required to comply with the feral cat ordinance of Cook County and is supposed to alert animal control that the cat is part of a cared for colony so that they don't even pick them up if they see an ear tip. Does anyone else have experience or knowledge of this issue?

Posted April 17, 2009, 6:47PM by Kelly4cats

Isn't it against any city ordinance to immediately kill (euthanize) a cat at the shelter?

Why does it seem like whenever we take one step forward there is always something pushing us three steps back. The uphill battle continues on. It's so frustrating.

Posted April 27, 2009, 10:42AM by viedma

The Neuter Scooter has made such a positive impact on Northwest Indiana. I've watched them in action in Hammond and they're the most dedicated and efficient team you've ever seen. I wish there were a hundred vets like Dr. Peavy. I can't thank her and her family enough for all the good they've done in this area.

Posted April 17, 2009, 4:44PM by dogsandcatsandhorses

I would like to see you all come down to Georgia. I also wish that you can do dogs small and big. I think the ear tipping is good. We had a cat outside cat who was fixed but she loved the outdoors and her ear was tipped but cause of a fight.

Posted May 07, 2009, 9:30PM by Evelyn

I've had the pleasure of working with Dr. Peavey as well as Anita Barron and Cathy Bonewell; all mentioned in the article! I've helped with large TNR operations in our Cincinnati area, assisting with the Neuter Scooter's professional assembly-line setup. It's quite impressive!!

Evelyn in Cincinnati

Posted April 15, 2009, 6:32PM by scratchtopaz

What a great article on such a pioneering organization! And tattoo vs. ear-tipping very interesting concept. Thank you for sharing!

Posted April 20, 2009, 1:36PM by cambridgeratmom

Love the name!!!

Some ACOs are better trained than others. There are still too many "old school" ACOs out there, but it's changing. When it happens in your neighborhood, gather the troops and make a difference!!

Posted April 25, 2009, 3:21AM by catwoman512

I live in Granger, IN and have volunteered at a local shelter who sponsored the Neuter Scooter several times. It is always very sucessful! Dr. Peavy is great! I personally have worked 4 seperate events & at each one we sterilized between 100 - 200 cats. I was amazed at how organized the process was. There were alot of volunteers to help with the prep work and after surgery care. It was hard work and we were going non-stop from around 5AM thru around midnight/1AM the next morning. But Dr. Peavy was a rock. She kept it all going and made sure every pet & every owner had personal after care instructions. I cannot say enough about her and what she does for our communities.

We even had a few people collect their "neighborhood" strays and bring them in. One guy I remember brought in 10 cats and non of them were his own. He said without the Neuter Scooter he could have never been able to afford to do it. At least now there won't be more kittens running around without homes. There are good people out there & they just need a helping hand.

It was a honor to have been able to participate in these events. Not just the scheduling and paper-work but the actual day itself. To be there and watch her work was something I will always remember. And when the day was done we all had such a huge feeling of accomplishment and joy. I cannot speak for others but I personally am proud.

I hope the Neuter Scooter is able to keep going for a long time to come!

Posted April 21, 2009, 10:45AM by dionie

Bless you Dr Beavy and family. You have taken action to help all those homeless cats.

Posted April 21, 2009, 8:31AM by bluethunder1962

Love that name.

Posted April 20, 2009, 10:27PM by eileenwj

I have also heard that ear tipped cats can have frost bite damage in the colder climates! Now this is not a problem in India where our shelter (and shelters all over India) Visakha SPCA www.vspca.org spays/neuters 40 street dogs a day. I think shelters in the USA have to look more closely at an ear tipping. Ear tipping is important so that the cat can be recognized as having been fixed from a distance, if people want to tattoo or microchip to add to that?

The comment about the Washington Humane Society euthanizing ear tipped cats was so sad. This is where our President is making a donation in lieu of adopting a real rescue - sigh. Well that is another subject as we all know!

Posted April 18, 2009, 8:7PM by Sophies_mom

Here in Washington, D.C. Animal Control (operated by Washington Humane Society) euthanized 2 of my ear-tipped ferals, so yes, they do indeed kill even ear-tipped cats. When I called AC to ask if they had received any ear-tipped cats, they said "no". The Washington Humane Society's excuse to that was that their employees at AC may not have known what an ear-tipped cat is!! And many of these people actually think they are working FOR the animals -- what a disgrace.

Thank you Neuter Scooter for making a huge difference for these precious felines. Hopefully tattooing for TNR cats will soon become the norm here too.

R.I.P. Dot & Star