FRESNO, Calif. ( KSEE/KGPE ) – A pair of veterinarians from San Francisco are traveling to Fresno to help deal with what is being called an “overwhelming” flood of puppies being turned in at shelters.
Dr. Jennifer Scarlett, who is also the CEO of the San Francisco SPCA, is one of the veterinarians who will arrive in Fresno on Thursday and help spay and neuter the animals herself. According to Dr. Scarlett, spaying and neutering will not be available to the public – even though Fresno seems to want it.
“What I’ve found working in Fresno is that people in Fresno want spay-neuter,” Dr. Scarlett said. “When we do offer public spay-neuter the outpouring of people who want it is amazing.”
Dr. Scarlett says the priority of the event is to spay and neuter at the animal center and alleviate pressure on the shelter to help prevent further overcrowding.
“If you think about a female dog – she’s going to have between 40 to 50 puppies in her lifetime,” Dr. Scarlett said. “If you look at the next five generations, are going to produce somewhere between 3,000 and 10,000 puppies.”
‘Either talk about euthanasia or keep watching dogs die in the streets,’ Fresno dog rescuer warns Dr. Scarlett says the importance of spaying and neutering is because shelters are experiencing an overwhelming flood of puppies, leaving the workers there exhausted.
“My heart goes to the animals whose lives are sometimes in jeopardy,” Dr. Scarlett said, “but also to the shelter workers who are dealing with a lot of compassion fatigue.”
Dr. Scarlett says she’s seen great compassion for animals from Fresno’s shelter workers, rescuers, the City Council, and pet owners.
“There is such a powerful community of supporters, including the City Council and county officials that really want to tackle this problem.”
According to Dr. Scarlett, dog overpopulation in shelters is a problem nationwide and statewide, she says there is also a lack of vets to help.
“It snuck up on us, the shortage of veterinarians is due to not having enough veterinary colleges put in over time,” Scarlett said. “Then an acute part of it is COVID.”
Scarlett says during the pandemic many veterinary professionals felt additional pressure in the industry and retired or left the field. Though the problem can seem impossible, Scarlett says the spaying and neutering on Thursday and Friday are just one of many events to come. With the help of Fresno’s passionate animal-loving community, she sees hope for a positive change.
“I’ve been so impressed with everyone I’ve met in Fresno – so hopefully we can lock arms and do some good.”
The Fresno Animal Center will be holding a free adoption event on Saturday, May 11, at the center. It will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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