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Feature Story M Snap
Feature Story M Snap
Feature Story M Snap
organization located in Monongalia County, West Virginia. The Mountaineer Spay Neuter
pet population control. They do this by encouraging people to spay and neuter their pet dogs
and cats.
How does this work? Well, first you must know there are around 70 million homeless
dogs and cats in the United States. It is estimated that, on average only 6 to 8 million dogs and
cats enter a shelter each year. Of those 6 to 8 million dogs and cat, only about 3.2 million are
Well, they could enter a foster program, if the fosters are available at the time. Or, the
animals could have been lucky enough to have been place in a no-kill animal shelter. Or, they
become one of the 2.7 million dogs and cats being euthanized each year due to overpopulation
in animal shelters.
The Mountaineer Spay Neuter Assistance Program is trying to prevent the use of
By attacking it at the root of the problem. Unspayed and/or not neutered dogs and cats.
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Understand the Mountaineer Spay Neuter Assistance Program/Page 2
Many states have created spay and neuter laws to try to control the overpopulation
problem in the United States. In West Virginia, all adopted shelter dogs and cats must be
spayed and neutered either by the shelter in which they are held in, or by the person adopting
the animal within the first 30 days of the adoptions. Failure to do so, will result in fines or
But these laws do not apply to non-shelter animals, meaning all the people who
purchase their animals from breeders or pet stores, and all the people who buy animals from
local litters, there is no law requiring them to spay or neuter their animal.
The Mountaineer Spay Neuter Assistance Program encourages the community members
to adopt from local shelters rather than to purchase a dog or cat from a breeder or pet store.
One unsprayed/not neutered dog can produce on average 16 off-spring in one year.
That doesn’t seem like a big number, but when people all over the community, and all over the
United States do not have their animals spayed and neutered, those numbers add up. And it
has added up to the 70 million homeless dogs and cats we have today.
The Mountaineer Spay Neuter Assistance Program works to educate the Monongalia
County community of the importance of spay and neuter in order to locally reduce the number
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Understand the Mountaineer Spay Neuter Assistance Program/Page 3
residents of Monongalia County to have their dog or cat spayed or neutered. In order to qualify,
you must be a pet caregiver who does not have the funds and/or resources to fix their animals.
It is not intended to those who have decided to purchase a dog from a pet store or breed, or for
those who have adopted an animal from a shelter or rescue group that is regulated by
The Mountaineer Spay Neuter Assistance Program has already made a local change in
the Mon County Shelter and other local shelters. The non-profit started in 2010 and by 2012
fewer than 1,000 dogs and cats were euthanized at Mon County Shelter. In 2015, The
Mountaineer Spay Neuter Assistance Program issued over 1,000 vouchers in one year. In 2017,
the non-profit gave vouchers for 980 different spay and neuter surgeries, while partnering with
12 local veterinary clinics. These 12 local veterinary clinics work along side M-SNAP and
Being a non-profit, the Mountaineer Spay Neuter Assistance Program is always in need
of money. Members of M-SNAP support the idea that money in the bank serves no good
purpose while homeless pets are being killed in Monongalia County. The policy for reducing pet
overpopulation, agreed to by all member in 2008, is that M-SNAP will send vouchers to
residents in need until the funds are exhausted. During the period of time, when M-SNAP has
no money, a wait list will be created and the distributions of vouchers will return when new
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Understand the Mountaineer Spay Neuter Assistance Program/Page 4
The Mountaineer Spay Neuter Assistance Program has many sources of income. Its main
source being ReTails Thrift Shop, a thrift shop located in Morgantown Mall, West Virginia.
ReTails accepts new and gently used merchandise. All merchandise sold at ReTails is donated
merchandise, and after paying the store’s overhead and operating costs, 100% of the profit
goes to the M-SNAP Voucher Program. Retails Thift Shop is open to shop, donate, or volunteer
Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Outreach, and Membership Committee. These all work cohesively to reach a common goal, to
educate people on the importance of spay and neuter, and to provide spay and neuter to the
members of the local Monongalia County community, whom are in need of assistance.
M-SNAP also accepts check contributions in its PO box. They also collect fund through
Amazon Smile and Kroger Plus card, when people choose M-SNAP as their charity of choice a
percentage of everything purchased (on Amazon and/or at Kroger) goes to M-SNAP with no
The Mountaineer Spay Neuter Assistance Program has been working hard since 2010 to
make animals lives better. They believe it is the community’s responsibility to help out with the
local pet overpopulation problem. M-SNAP works hard to ensure the community is educated on
the topic of pet overpopulation, and the importance of spaying and neuter.
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