Spay/neuter your pets at ongoing SHS clinic

The Saipan Humane Society’s spay/neuter clinic at the Koblerville Community Center (former Koblerville COVID-19 Testing Center), is ongoing until Feb. 15.

As of last Friday, Feb. 9, the clinic has already done 111 spay/neuter surgeries, three amputations, and had 57 sick/wellness visits. The clinic was set up last Monday, Feb. 5, in collaboration with visiting veterinarians, SHS staff/volunteers, and the Saipan Dog Control Program staff.

The prices for spay/neuter services are $50 for male cats (neuter), and $75 for female cats (spay), or male/female dogs. Price varies for specialty surgeries (amputation, eye removal, etc.).

Online registration for the spay/neuter clinic is ongoing at saipanhumanesociety.org/. From the home page, click the button that says “Request an appointment” and follow the instructions. Drop off your pets between 7:30am and 8am and the last pick-up time is at 4pm. You can also email clinic@saipanhumanesociety.org/.

One visiting veterinarian, Dr. Jessica Nelson, told Saipan Tribune last Friday that the clinic has been “wonderful.” She arrived on Saipan for the first time the Sunday before the clinic and said that everybody has been welcoming and the clinic has been “wonderfully run” by SHS and DCP.

“We’re just happy to be one of the little cogs in the machine, but we’re not the main part—everybody else is doing the work,” said Nelson.

On top of the many spay/neuter surgeries, Nelson said the clinic crew also takes care of any emergencies that come in, along with providing rabies vaccines. She is also helping and providing SHS with more knowledge “so they can continue providing the wonderful care they do.” This week, they will also provide health certificates to help facilitate pets that need to get off island and just “doing whatever we can,” said Nelson.

Nelson is originally from Portland, Oregon, and has previously helped with one of Guam’s spay/neuter clinics. After a year of planning to assist SHS, she finally made it out to Saipan, along with veterinary technician Lauren Ruiz.

With the community coming out and getting their pets serviced, Nelson said she’s impressed but not surprised that people here love their pets. “Everybody just wants what’s best for their pet. …I’m just impressed with how much Saipan cares about their pets—not that I was expecting anything differently, but it’s just kind of reinforcing the belief that, yeah, it doesn’t matter where you are, everybody loves their pets—or even the random dog or cat on the side of the road.”

As for maybe hosting another spay/neuter clinic on Rota and Tinian, SHS president Lauren Cabrera said they would need more funding as it’s expensive to fly down there with all their equipment.