NEW YORK — Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition (BBAWC), the nonprofit animal rescue that operates Brooklyn Cat Cafeannounced that it will hold two weekends of “Spaathon” where free spay/neuter services will be offered for up to 400 rescued and feral cats.
Services include a brief veterinary exam, rabies vaccination, FVRCP vaccination, flea and worm treatment, and microchip. These free services are made possible by a generous grant from the Regina Bauer Frankenberg Foundation.
Services will be offered through the BBAWC Rescue Clinic at surgery sites in Brooklyn Cat Cafe y Park Slope Veterinary Center on the weekends of May 6-7 and June 2-4.
The Park Slope Vet Center is loaning their surgery space to the BBAWC medical team for the event to ensure that 200 cats can be spayed/neutered each weekend.
Since launching his in-house, low-cost spay/neuter clinic in Brooklyn Cat Cafe as of fall 2021, BBAWC has spayed and neutered over 3,200 cats.
Approximately 1,500 cat rescuers compete each month for nearly 1,200 free spay/neuter appointments provided by other organizations in New York City.
Large traditional shelters rarely rescue stray cats directly from the streets, leaving that work to independent rescues who across the country saw their revenue increase by 14% between 2019 and 2021.
In New York City, these small groups and individuals rescue adoptable cats from the outdoors and remove them from the city’s animal shelter, provide veterinary care and place cats in homes. They also carry out Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) in which cats not socialized (and therefore not adoptable) are trapped, spayed or neutered, vaccinated against rabies, and returned to their communities.
“If you want to stop the proliferation of homeless cats on the streets of New York City, small rescues need institutional and financial support, including access to low-cost spay/neuter services,” said Anne Levin, executive director of Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare. Coalition and Brooklyn Cat Cafe. “Unfortunately, the demand for affordable spay/neuter services far exceeds the supply. We are extremely grateful to the Regina Bauer Frankenberg Foundation for recognizing this critical need and making it possible for us to offer these free services to rescuers.”
Cat rescuers can book appointments for the Spaathon June starting May 2 at 9 am, or join the waiting list for the Spaathon May visiting bbawc.org/clinic and clicking on “Book an appointment here”.
