Cutting down on pet overpopulation takes more effort than a Bob Barker sign-off. The Animal Rescue Coalition has been working throughout Southwest Florida to make sure owners have the capability to get their cats and dogs spayed or neutered. Now a grant from the William G. and Marie Selby Foundation will assist in the mission by giving pet owners easier means to get animals to veterinarians to perform these surgeries.

A $70,000 grant awarded by the foundation this month will be used by ARC officials to buy a new transport vehicle to accommodate 25-30 pet transports each day, nearly double the capacity of a previous mobile clinic operation.  “This will increase our reach and the services we provide,” said ARC Executive Director Gisele Pintchuck. The spay-and-neuter operation has been important to ARC; the organization since 2002 has helped provide the operations to more than 38,000 animals.

Pintchuck said the transport vehicle will primarily serve more rural areas like DeSoto and Charlotte counties. Animals will be transported to a new 3,800-square-foot facility in Sarasota just east of Interstate-75 near the Fruitville Library. The new facility handles any size of cat or dog, and has a separate den for feral cats. Pintchuck said the efforts to cut down on overpopulation follow a “tried-and-tested” practice pioneered by the Humane Alliance. ARC is one of 139 clinics in the country following the model. “Progressive spay/neuter efforts led by both Sarasota and Manatee counties are contributing to the decrease each year in animals being euthanized,” she said.