Thanks to Luke’s Legacy Foundation, a spay and neuter clinic for local dogs and cats will be available at Living Free later this month.
On Wednesday and Thursday, June 24 and 25, these services will be offered to residents from Garner Valley to Pine Cove, according to Janice Murasko. Animals may be brought to Living Free, left for the surgery and picked up later the same day, she added.
Riverside County requires all dogs and cats, other than those used for breeding and those who might be injured by the surgery, to be spayed and neutered.
Local pet owners who may want to use the service should make an appointment, recommended Murasko. Sharon Caughron, Living Free’s executive director of Animal Services, at 951-659-4687, is available Tuesdays through Saturdays to arrange the time for an appointment. Only 25 surgeries can be done each day by the team of two veterinarians.
Besides pets, the clinic is willing to neuter feral cats if someone is able to bring them in, according to Murasko.
Luke’s Legacy is funding the entire event, Murasko said. “They are planning another event later in the summer to the whole Hill from Anza to Poppet Flats.”
Tracy Essex, Living Free’s director of Development, is friends with one of the founders of Luke’s Legacy, who fell in love with Living Free’s facilities on a visit.
“She loved the great care and freedom our animals get,” Caughron said. “We submitted a grant and it was approved to use for a low-cost, local [spay and neuter] clinic.”
