34 animals undergo 'Big Fix' in Little Rock; surgeries part of tax-supported program

Kelly Page (left) and her daughter Marley, 10, pick up their cat, Jingles, on Thursday afternoon at Arkansans for Animals Inc. in Little Rock after the cat was sterilized during the Pulaski County Big Fix. The spay/neuter program was funded through voluntary $5 donations on Pulaski County residents’ tax bills.
Kelly Page (left) and her daughter Marley, 10, pick up their cat, Jingles, on Thursday afternoon at Arkansans for Animals Inc. in Little Rock after the cat was sterilized during the Pulaski County Big Fix. The spay/neuter program was funded through voluntary $5 donations on Pulaski County residents’ tax bills.

Pet owner Deletta Seekins lugged Catimus "Max" Maximus into a Pulaski County veterinary clinic for what was likely to be the young cat's worst morning, ever.

"No food, no water and you got caught in there?" Seekins said to Max, empathizing with her cat through the wall of his crate.

Max and 33 other animals were spayed or neutered Thursday at Arkansans for Animals Inc., a clinic off Interstate 30 in southwest Little Rock.

The surgeries were part of the Pulaski County Big Fix, a day devoted to sterilizing pets and strays at low or no cost to the animal's caretaker.

Money for the Big Fix was raised through a voluntary county tax, spearheaded by Justice of the Peace Julie Blackwood. County residents could choose to donate $5 on their 2017 property or business property bills to go toward the program.

About 8,960 people donated, generating $45,500.

Before Thursday, people had to register and pay $10 to hold a spot. If the animal had been vaccinated, that money was returned.

Seekins was among the first to drop off an animal Thursday. She and her girlfriend have looked after Max for about a month and a half, which hasn't been easy, Seekins said.

He got trapped in a tree. It took braving a 17-feet-tall ladder at 2 a.m. to get him down, Seekins said.

Despite the early morning rescue mission, the cat became a family staple.

"My daughter rarely calls me, but now she calls to check up on Max," Seekins said.

At some point, Seekins and her girlfriend got word of the Big Fix's $10 surgery cost.

"We're like, 'That's our price range,'" she said.

Some Pulaski County clinics regularly offer spay and neuter surgeries at a discounted rate. At a private vet, costs can ramp up into the hundreds.

Dog owner Brandi Roberts was also enticed by the price.

She ushered Drogo into the lobby as he ran in circles. The fluffy white cockapoo is named after Khal Drogo, a character on HBO's TV show Game of Thrones who leads of a pack of roaming warriors on horseback.

But the resemblance is slim.

"Drogo [the dog] is, like, so wimpy," Roberts said.

Inside the clinic, some dogs, like Drogo, zoomed around the room. Others were more cautious. Tick Tock's owner had to cradle the nervous pooch like a baby.

An employee instructed people to let their dogs relieve themselves outside before entering.

For canines, "car rides are like coffee," she explained over a chorus of meows and barks.

Jake Hillard, the clinic's executive director, greeted the pet owners and joked about what they should expect.

"We get 'em drunk, we tattoo 'em, then we send 'em home like bad grandparents," she said. People were instructed to keep the recovering animals inside for seven to 10 days after the procedure.

Locked behind a glass office door, Greer, a black rescue cat, seemed to scowl at the comings and goings.

She's a "vicious queen" who drools, Hillard said. At one point, Greer was adopted, but she peed on her owner's breakfast, a deal breaker.

In addition to the 34 animals "fixed" on Thursday, 57 more are signed up to undergo surgeries at a later date.

County money also paid for a day of surgeries at animal shelters in Maumelle, Sherwood, Jacksonville and the Pulaski County Humane Society.

All together, about 160 animals are undergoing operations as part of the Big Fix, Cozetta Jones, a county spokesman, estimated.

Those surgeries cost roughly $8,000 of the $45,500 generated from the first year of the voluntary tax. Another spay and neuter event is on the books for February, Jones said.

County Judge Barry Hyde said he thinks money from the voluntary tax will double next year. A better-timed marketing push will likely increase the donations, Hyde said, adding that he also wants to eliminate the $5 ceiling.

The effort is important because stray and abandoned animals that aren't fixed cannot be adopted, Hyde said, so "many, many, many of them are euthanized."

He also credited Hillard and her work. The clinic has completed about 2,000 sterilization surgeries a year since 2011.

"She might be related to St. Francis of Assisi," Hyde said, referring to the Roman Catholic saint linked to animal protection.

The average cat sterilization surgery takes about 15 minutes, while the procedure for a dog takes about 25 minutes, Dr. James Achorn said from the clinic's operating room.

He ignored the barking filtering in from a side room. After a four-decade career, only a "very shrill, loud bark" will get his attention, he said.

Achorn said that for some pet owners, the Big Fix is their first interaction with veterinary medicine.

As he prepared for a day of surgeries, Achorn said he's hopeful it's just the beginning.

Metro on 12/01/2017

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