In addition to our dedicated work to build fences and provide warm shelters to dogs living outdoors on chains or tethers, the third very important component of Fences For Fido's mission is to provide free spay-neuter surgeries to our canine clients.  We know that as part of changing our dogs' lives, preventing more lives is not only a critical aspect to improve living conditions for the dogs we help, but to prevent more puppies from being born into a nation with over-filled animal shelters.  Additonally, neutering male dogs helps reduce several health risks, along with the many negative traits that unsterilized dogs can exhibit such as roaming, inappropriate urination, tension, excitability, and hormonal stress.

All families that Fences For Fido help receive an offer for sterilization surgeries for their dogs--these surgeries are always ongoing by all our chapters as part of our standard efforts, however our Southwest Washington chapter has provided an unusually steady flurry of dog neuters this fall for our dog clients, already arranging and paying for 11 dogs to be neutered since October!  So here we share the news of all these boy surgeries plus many more waiting to be scheduled and a couple girl dogs too!  (Some dogs have already received their fences and others are still on our fence wait list.)

Lots of neuters started in October with Slayer of Vancouver:

Slayer - neutered October 14, 2011 (Vancouver)

Tucker - neutered October 24, 2011 (Kelso)

Buddy - neutered October 25, 2011 (Woodland)

Bruticus and Zuko - neutered October 28, 2011 (Kelso)

Bubba & Bear-Bear - neutered November 8, 2011 (Kalama)

Jasper - neutered November 23, 2011 (Kelso)

Grizzly before surgery...

Grizzly - neutered November 28, 2011 (Ethel)

16-year old Grizzly had to be neutered due to anal gland tumors that were causing him discomfort.  Three tumors were removed and biopsied--thankfully the tumors were benign.  These types of tumors are prevalent in unneutered males, so this is one more reason to sterilize male dogs to help lessen the chances for these serious health problems.  Thank you Smokey's Fund for providing necessary funds to pay for Grizzly's urgent medical care.

.....Grizzly after surgery

Besides having some boy parts and tumors removed, Grizzly also

had most of his hair removed due to tangled mats in his thick fur.

Bear (6-mo. puppy) and Shadow - December 9, 2011 (Kalama)

Dracula & Danzig - Neutered December 12, 2011 (Castle Rock)

Rosco - Neutered January 13, 2012 (Kalama)

Teeko - Neutered January 13, 2012 (Kalama)

Mongo - Neutered January 13, 2012 (Kalama)

On deck, the following SW WA boys are waiting in the wings next to receive a gift of a neuter surgery to improve their lives:

JoJo and Gizmo - Ethel

Buddy - Kelso

And don't think with all the boy neuters we forget about the lady dogs!  We now have some girls ready for their turn at having a surgery that will make their lives so much better by not having to worry about hormones, unwanted attention from male dogs, and litters of puppies:

Blueberry - Battle Ground (Layla on right is already spayed!)

Chloe in Ethel will soon go in for her second attempt

at a spay--last time it was discovered she was pregnant!

She has successfully raised those 6 little pups (above) so

her surgery will be scheduled soon.  Update:  Chloe was spayed on January 19, 2012.

Even with all the success of so many spay/neuters paid for by Fences For Fido,  sterilization surgeries and veterinary care are our greatest expense after fence building materials.   Male neuter surgeries normally cost Fences For Fido between $150 to $200 each, and female spay surgeries usually cost $200-$400 depending on size and health factors.  We have a great need at this time for donors and sponsors of spay/neuter surgeries.  We would be so thankful to have enough money to continue providing sterilization to the dogs on our long waiting list for all our chapters.  Please sponsor a spay-neuter surgery!  Thanks so much to our donors who make everything we do possible, including the spay/neuter surgeries that many of our dogs need and receive.

As Fences For Fido's Spay-Neuter Coordinator for SW WA, these busy past months making arrangements for all these surgeries has been very rewarding for me as our organization knows how much happier and more comfortable our dogs will be once they are sterilized.   Thank you also to our SW WA Chapter Coordinator Erica for being very successful at signing up so many dogs to receive our services, and also we appreciate all the families that have trusted us to care for their dogs the best we know how.

And of course, a big "Thank You" to our supporting veterinary clinics who have so wonderfully kept up with our neutering needs in Southwest Washington in recent months!  We appreciate veterinarians in our community assisting us with the health care needs of Fences For Fido canine clients.

Animal Health Services - Kelso

Companion Animal Clinic - Vancouver-Salmon Creek

Timberline Veterinary Hospital - Ethel

Woodland Veterinary Hospital - Woodland

Honorable mentions go to recent families who already had their dogs "fixed" before FFF came into their lives:

Joey (Vancouver)

Jack and Muttley (Puget Island)

Loba (Longview)

Cheech (Vancouver)

Max and Tye (Ridgefield)

Hunter (Battle Ground)

Hero (Battle Ground)

Sugar (Ethel)

Layla and Zachious (Battle Ground)