Organizers of a "marathon" cat spay/neuter clinic with three Mainland veterinarians hope to sterilize 500 to 600 cats from Jan. 23 to 25.
The three-day event is being organized by the nonprofit no-kill cat and rescue sanctuary, 9th Life Hawaii.
The team will be led by Colorado's Jeff Young, who travels worldwide conducting "marathon" spay/neuter clinics. He has spayed/neutered more than 160,000 animals and teaches veterinarians how to run these mass spay/neuter clinics, a news release about the event said.
The other veterinarians are Young's proteges, Leeth Harper and Jeff Fankhauser.
Feral cats and pets are eligible for the program. Pregnant cats will not be accepted unless no more than three weeks pregnant.
Jan. 25 will be for ferals only.
There will be drop-off/pickup sites islandwide for the animals. The sterilizations will be done at the sanctuary's Upcountry surgery room, fully equipped courtesy of a PetSmart Charities grant. After the procedure is completed, the animals will be returned to the pickup site.
9th Life is asking for $15 for the first cat, and $6 for each additional cat up to five. The sixth cat and more are free. Cats will be sterilized for free in cases of financial hardship.
For more information about drop-off/pickup sites and times, call 573-3365 or e-mail 9thlifehawaii@earthlink.net and leave a name, phone number, address, number of cats and their genders. Surgical consent forms need to be mailed out and returned.
Information is also available at Web site www.9thlifehawaii.org. The Feline Foundation of Maui and the Maui Humane Society also are helping with referrals, according to the press release.
* This story includes a correction to the gestation period.
