Longwood nonprofit tackles region's pet overpopulation problem by keeping spay, neuter costs down

SERVICES ARE HELPING STRUGGLING LOCAL FAMILIES AT THE SAME TIME. THIS WEEK’S COMMUNITY CHAMPION IS COMBATING THE PROBLEM OF HOMELESS PET OVERPOPULATION HERE IN CENTRAL FLORIDA. THIS MORNING WE’RE INTRODUCING YOU TO SPAY AND SAVE WHERE WE’VE WORKED REALLY HARD TO KEEP, ESPECIALLY OUR FERAL SPAY NEUTER PRICE, THE SAME AS THE DAY WE OPENED. SO WE ACTUALLY LOSE A LITTLE BIT OF MONEY ON THOSE SURGERIES. UM, BUT WE FEEL IT’S SO IMPORTANT TO KEEP IT AFFORDABLE SO THAT PEOPLE DO KEEP COMING IN. THAT’S THE MISSION OF SPAY AND SAVE. THEY PERFORMED MORE THAN 100,000 LOW COST SPAY OR NEUTER SURGERIES SINCE OPENING IN 2012. JOANNE MCCALL, THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF SPAIN SAVE, SAYS THE WORK BEGAN WITH THE REALIZATION THAT PET ADOPTION ALONE WASN’T THE SOLUTION. OUR FOUNDERS, THEY HAVE A CAT RESCUE AND THEY FIGURED OUT AFTER QUITE A WHILE THAT THEY JUST COULDN’T ADOPT THEIR WAY OUT OF THE PET OVERPOPULATION PROBLEM. SPAIN SAVE PUTS A FOCUS ON PREVENTION THROUGH SPAY AND NEUTER SERVICES, AND THEY’RE EXPANDING. WE WORK HARD TO DO THINGS LIKE WELLNESS RIGHT NOW, ONCE A WEEK AND SOON IT’LL BE TWICE A WEEK. WE OFFER WELLNESS SERVICES TO PEOPLE THAT CAN COME IN AND VACCINATE THEIR PETS, AND THAT HELPS US TO MAKE JUST A LITTLE BIT OF MONEY TO SUPPLEMENT THE LOSS THAT WE TAKE ON OUR SPAY NEUTER SURGERIES. PASSIONATE VETERINARY PROFESSIONALS AND DEDICATED VOLUNTEERS RUN THIS NONPROFIT IN LONGWOOD. OUR VOLUNTEERS REALLY ARE THE BACKBONE OF OUR COMPANY. JULIE WALTERS TELLS ME. THOSE VOLUNTEERS ARE A CRITICAL PART OF THE MISSION. WE HONESTLY COULDN’T HAVE DONE, YOU KNOW, 100,000 SURGERIES WITHOUT THEM. SO WE RELY VERY HEAVILY ON THEM. SIMPLE TASKS KEEP EVERYTHING RUNNING SMOOTHLY. SO, UM, EASIEST IS GETTING READY AND LIKE DOING LAUNDRY FOR US. SO THAT’S PRETTY SIMPLE. YOU’RE LITERALLY PUTTING LAUNDRY IN, DRYING IT. WE ALSO HAVE SURGERY DRAPES THAT WE HAVE TO, UM, LINT ROLL TO MAKE SURE THAT IT’S ALL READY TO GO FOR SURGERY. SPAIN SAVE WORKS TO HELP ANIMALS, NOT TURN PROFITS. A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO, WE GOT A PHONE CALL FROM SOMEONE. UM, THEIR DOG HAD AN INFECTION IN THE UTERUS CALLED THE PYOMETRA. AND A FULL SERVICE VET WHO DOESN’T SPECIALIZE IN WHAT WE DO WAS QUOTING ABOUT $5,000 FOR THAT SURGERY. UM, THIS WAS A LOW INCOME PERSON. THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO WAY THEY WERE GOING TO BE ABLE TO AFFORD THAT AND WOULD HAVE HAD TO EUTHANIZE THEIR PET. UM, BUT SOMEONE WHO KNEW OF US REACHED OUT, AND OUR DOCTORS IMMEDIATELY SAID, YES, COME RIGHT OVER AND WE TOOK CARE OF THAT SURGERY FOR A VERY SMALL AMOUNT. AND THEIR PET IS DOING VERY WELL, AND SHE WILL SURVIVE. SO WE’RE QUITE PROUD OF THAT. SPAY AND SAVE EXEMPLIFIES THE SPIRIT OF A WESH 2 COMMUNITY CHAMPION. WE WORK REALLY HARD EVERY DAY. UM, THE WHOLE TEAM HERE IS DEDICATED TO THE FACT THAT WE’RE A NONPROFIT AND WE’RE TRYING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE ANIMALS LIVES. UM, BUT JUST THE FACT THAT WE CAN GET HIGHLIGHTED ALSO HELPS TO GET THE WORD OUT SO THAT MORE PEOPLE WHO NEED OUR HELP WILL KNOW THAT WE’RE HERE FOR AND ALLOW US TO, TO REACH OUT AND GIVE THEM THE ASSISTANCE THAT THEY NEED. JASON GUY WESH TWO NEWS. OH MY GOODNESS, WHAT A SWEET FACE. WE ENDED THAT PIECE ON. ALL RIGHT. JOINING ME THIS MORNING IS PHYLLIS YOUTUBE AND JULIE WALTERS. GOOD MORNING TO YOU BOTH. GOOD MORNING. SO LET’S TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO HAVE, YOU KNOW, THE COMMUNITY CHAMPION SPOTLIGHT ON THIS ORGANIZATION. OH, IT’S SUCH AN HONOR. WE ARE SO THRILLED THAT WE WERE CHOSEN AND WE WERE RECOMMENDED BY A GOOD FRIEND OF OURS WHO ALSO HAS BEEN FEATURED ON HERE AND HAS HELPED US. FRANKLIN’S FRIENDS, WHO MAY REMEMBER THEM. YES, YES. DO GREAT WORK AS WELL. UM, SO TELL OUR VIEWERS ABOUT OUR AREAS PROBLEM, SPECIFICALLY WITH, YOU KNOW, THE HOMELESS PET POPULATION. YEAH. A LOT OF ANIMALS THAT DON’T HAVE OF FAMILIES THAT CAN AFFORD TO GET THEM SPAYED AND NEUTERED IF THEY REPRODUCE, THOSE ANIMALS MAY END UP AT A SHELTER WHERE THEY MAY OR MAY NOT EVER GET ADOPTED. AND, UM, AND I STARTED OUT AS A RESCUE CAT RESCUE, AND WE REALIZED THAT YOU CAN’T ADOPT YOUR WAY OUT OF OVERPOPULATION. YOU JUST CAN’T DO ENOUGH ADOPTIONS TO MAKE UP FOR THE, UH, OVERPOPULATION. SO THAT’S WHY WE STARTED SPAN SAFE. AND NOW WE CAN, THROUGH GRANTS THAT WE GET, UM, THROUGH LOCAL COMPANIES THAT GIVE US, UH, PRODUCT LIKE SOLAR, SOLAR SOURCE GAVE US A SOLAR SYSTEM SO WE CAN USE THE MONEY THAT WE SAVE ON ELECTRICITY. OH, THAT’S GREAT TO HELP PAY FOR LOW INCOME PEOPLE. OKAY, WE’VE GOTTEN GRANTS FROM PETSMART, PETCO, ALL THE BIG CORPORATIONS, AND THAT HELPS. SO. AND THE HOMELESS PET POPULATION, I FEEL LIKE ALMOST SPEAKS FOR ITSELF BECAUSE YOU CAN DRIVE DOWN THE STREETS OF CENTRAL FLORIDA AND SEE, YOU KNOW, CATS EVERYWHERE. AND SO IT’S A GREAT THING WHAT YOU GUYS ARE DOING. UM, BUT IT TAKES EFFORT. IT TAKES PEOPLE AND IT TAKES FUNDING, AS YOU WERE SAYING, HOW, UM, IMMEDIATE IS THE NEED FOR VOLUNTEERS. SO OUR, YOU KNOW, WE WE HAVE IT’S ALMOST NATIONAL VOLUNTEER WEEK ACTUALLY. SO IF YOU GO ON TO OUR FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM, WE’RE GOING TO BE HIGHLIGHTING ALL OF OUR VOLUNTEERS THAT WE HAVE. BUT THERE’S ALWAYS A NEED FOR MORE. AND IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE ANYTHING SUPER COMPLEX. YOU KNOW, JUST A LITTLE BIT OF TIME REALLY DOES GO AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR OUR ORGANIZATION. IF PEOPLE ARE NOT ABLE TO GIVE THEIR TIME. ARE THERE WAYS FOR THEM TO GIVE MAYBE FUNDS? ABSOLUTELY. SO WE’RE ALWAYS LOOKING AT DIFFERENT WAYS THAT WE CAN FUNDRAISE. SO THE BEST WAY TO FIND OUT ABOUT THOSE IS GOING ON AGAIN TO OUR FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM OR OUR WEBSITE. AND WE DO RAFFLES. WE DO 5050, UM, WE ARE DOING ONE RIGHT NOW FOR WE’RE JUST ASKING ALL OF OUR INSTAGRAM OR FACEBOOK FOLLOWERS TO DONATE $1, BECAUSE EVERY DOLLAR WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE. YEAH, AND I KNOW ORGANIZATIONS LIKE YOURS MAKE THAT DOLLAR REALLY STRETCH AND YOU CAN HELP SO MANY ANIMALS IN THE PROCESS. THANK YOU BOTH F