Houlton Humane Society $5,000 receives grant

HOULTON, Maine — The Houlton Humane Society has received a $5,000 check from the Maine Community Foundation, as a result of a grant application process, to support a low-income spaying/neutering project to help low income and elderly spay and neuter their cats.
    The grant was made possible from the Belvedere Animal Welfare Fund of the Maine Community foundation at the recommendation of the advisors.
The Houlton Humane Society animal shelter will have applications on hand for any individual who wishes to apply for financial assistance.
According to Cathy Davis, a spokesperson for the shelter, the way the program will work is that if the applicant is already eligible for any other assistance, such as SSI, TANF, food stamps, then they automatically qualify as low income for this spay/neuter assistance.
All elderly 65 and over also automatically qualify.
“A voucher will be issued for a certain dollar amount, at this point I am thinking probably up to $50 for a male cat and up to $75 for a female cat, and the owner takes that voucher to the vet when they get their cat spayed or neutered,” Davis said. “The vet mails the completed voucher to me verifying the animal has been altered and I send a check directly to the vet. Any costs over and above the voucher amount are the responsibility of the pet owner.”
Davis said the shelter applied for this grant because there are still too many unwanted cats and kittens in southern Aroostook County.
“The shelters are often inundated at kitten season, and if we can just help people get these animals ‘fixed,’ we can prevent many unwanted litters, not to mention that altered cats are healthier,” she said. “$5,000 won’t go very far, so we encourage people to apply soon.”
For more information, call the shelter at 532-2862.