2024: A Record-Breaking Year for SNIPS!
When it comes to spaying and neutering, the Watauga Humane Society SNIPS (Spay/Neuter Is a Positive Solution) public program has been hard at work ensuring that spay/neuter opportunities are accessible to our community of pet families —and 2024 was a banner year! Thanks to our incredible team of volunteers, and our dedicated Spay/Neuter Coordinator, Kaitlyn Lyon, we tackled big challenges, celebrated major wins, and set the stage for an even brighter 2025.
By adding an extra monthly clinic date with the Foothills Animal Health Clinic, we boosted our monthly surgery capacity from 80 to 116 appointments. That’s 36 extra faces cared for every month—clawsome, right?
This past year, the SNIPS program funded 621 surgeries for community owned pets. Funding came from various sources including Dining Days with local participating restaurants, Sow & Grow plant sales through the Food Hub, and Crafts for Critters craft sales out in the community and in the WHS lobby. Over $30,000 went to offsetting surgery costs for owned pets, and it was all because of volunteer help and supporters like you!
Of course, 2024 wasn’t without its hurdles. Hurricane Helene forced us to pause surgeries for two months, impacting our long-standing partner and friends at ASPCA Spay/Neuter Alliance, located in Asheville, NC. This devastation to Western North Carolina set back spay/neuter initiatives as everyone shifted their focus to neighbors and families in need. Surgery delays not only impacted owned pets, but also the unaltered animals sitting at the adoption center waiting to be fixed prior to adoption.
"Every year, Watauga Humane Society sees over 1,000 unaltered animals enter our doors. Our goal is to see every animal spayed or neutered before adoption, but the fact remains that appointment availability, in addition to health factors such as age and weight, limits that.", Kaitlyn Lyon says.
In 2024, Watauga Humane Society found homes for 521 unaltered pets, with 375 of those adoptions occurring during the months impacted by Helene. Director of Shelter Operations, Ashlee Yepez, explains, “Our doors are always open to the public for services, including pet surrenders—whether it’s an owned pet, a found stray, or a community cat. We do everything we can to provide alternatives to surrender, but some need immediate sheltering. As a result, we sometimes have to prioritize the adoption of unaltered pets to make space for those needing to enter our doors.”
WHS allocates approximately $40,000 annually—funded entirely by donations—to spay and neuter both in-house shelter pets and those already adopted. "We strive to balance the needs of both the public and the animals in our care, including those who have found homes through adoption," says Lyon. "Currently, we’re averaging a 70% surgery completion rate for WHS-adopted pets."
Looking ahead, Kaitlyn has big goals as the on-site Spay/Neuter Coordinator: cutting our public waitlist from 130 to 25 by March, increasing the surgery completion rate for adopted pets to 80% or more, and expanding on our partnerships to extend surgery availability for both public and shelter pets.
To our supporters, you’re the real MVPs. Your generosity keeps lifesaving programs running and ensures every animal has a chance at a healthier, happier life. Here’s to wagging tails, brighter futures, and a record-breaking 2025!
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