With The Return Of TEAM Mobile Unit,

Feral Cat Population May Lessen In The Future

Spay & Neuter Association of Newtown (SNAN) and The Animal Center teamed up to bring the TEAM Mobile Feline Unit back to town for the second time in less than six months. On March 23, the TEAM Mobile trailer was parked in the lot near 5 Glen Road in Sandy Hook and in about 5½ hours, a total of 39 cats had been spayed or neutered.

In addition, each cat also received rabies and distemper vaccines and a full physical check. Appointments for the cats had been arranged in advance. TEAM Mobile, based in Westbrook, had planned to do 40 of the feline operations on Friday, but one cat owner had to cancel at the last minute. The feline unit first visited Sandy Hook in October 2006, at which time 40 cats were also cared for.

Through the event, the low-cost services provided by the nonprofit TEAM Mobile Feline Unit were reduced from $67 to just $30. Grants received by SNAN and The Animal Center helped offset the difference between TEAM’s fees and what the public was asked to pay for the services. The clinic was open to Newtown residents who are feeding feral cats in their neighborhood or who have limited financial resources.

“Our goal is to help people who can’t afford to pay for these services on their own,” said Monica Roberto, the president of The Animal Center, who was at the clinic all day. “The going rate for a spay can run between $200 and $400, and a neuter can be between $150 and $250. That can be cost prohibitive.”

Rick Huisking, a member of The Animal Center, was more outspoken, calling the fees charged by licensed veterinarians “criminal.”

“Some vets are charging prices that are much too high. They have no thought about what their fees do,” he said. “They’re only about raking in the money. If pet care was more affordable, [the veterinarians] could do so much more in the long run.”

“Others are doing a community service by having reasonable rates,” he said. “The Animal Center and Spay & Neuter can only do so much.”

“You see it right here in front of us: TEAM Mobile is charging $67 for the same thing that vets are charging up to $400 for in their offices,” he continued. “Something’s just not right there. It doesn’t compute.”

Two tents were set up in the western corner of the parking lot, where cat carriers were kept as each cat awaited his or her turn to go into the mobile unit. The tents provided shade when the sun was out, and protection from the chilly air of early spring as each cat awaited its turn to be put onto the feline unit.

John Gallagher was the veterinarian on board the feline mobile unit last week, and Anne Castellano was his assistant.

The TEAM Mobile Feline Unit is a project of Tait’s Every Animal Matters of Westbrook. Created in 1997, TEAM is usually on the road five days each week and now visits more than 35 communities statewide. TEAM does not ask for proof of income or need, and it is the only mobile spay/neuter facility for cats in Connecticut.

Friday morning, a sign in one of the windows near the side door of the mobile unit proudly announced that as of March 17, TEAM had successfully performed 99,180 operations.

For 25 years, Spay & Neuter Association of Newtown has been a volunteer organization trying to reduce the number of unwante­d animals in Newtown and in the surrounding communities.

The Animal Center is a Newtown-based charity focused on animal welfare. The center provides spay/neuter assistance for stray and feral cats, as well as rescue and adoption services for homeless and abandoned kittens and cats in the Newtown area.

Cat and dog overpopulation results in millions of animal deaths each year. While the thousands of kittens and puppies born every hour in the United States are adorable, there are simply not enough caring homes for so many animals. More than four million of them will be euthanized in community shelters each year, at a cost of approximately $2 billion to US taxpayers.

Spaying or neutering pets and feral cats is the most effective way to reduce the vast numbers of animals who are born only to die prematurely and without a family who loves them.