February 20, 2015 at 2:39 p.m.
Mobile clinic helps keep local pet population in check
Mobile clinic helps keep local pet population in check
By Kayla Thomason-
The mobile clinic makes stops in Crandon, Wausau, Medford, Rhinelander, Minocqua, Antigo and Conover.
"Pretty much anywhere that there is a need and a building we will go," said Ashley McLaughlin, director and board member of The Fix Is In. "Our biggest challenge is finding a building and a community that will let us use that building."
In addition to sterilization, pet owners can choose to purchase additional pain medications, a recovery cone and microchipping for the pet. The clinic also offers tapeworm treatment, if segments are found in the pet, ear mite treatment, nail trimming and ear cleaning.
"It's all in what the customer wants in their pet too," McLaughlin said. "We're offering a service to get the animal fixed because we want to control the animal overpopulation issue so we want to keep our prices low. That's our goal."
Many people associate low cost with poor quality but that's not the case with The Fix Is In, McLaughlin said.
"A big misconception I guess that (people) have is that they don't exactly understand what we're doing," McLaughlin said. "We're in it for the pets, not the money. It's still a high-quality clinic. We use all of the most advanced veterinary medicine available but a lot of people obviously have a misconception that since it's less expensive it's not as quality of a service."
"Our veterinarian is excellent so I wouldn't hesitate at all (to bring my pets to her), she's a very good surgeon," Karla Ortman, founder and board member of The Fix Is In added.
A common question pet parents ask is whether they will need to take their four-legged family member to a veterinarian for suture removal.
"(The owners) want to know if they have to take their animals anywhere for sutures to be removed and all of our sutures are absorbable so we don't have to send them anywhere after surgery," McLaughlin said.
After the pet has been sterilized owners will notice a green line tattooed on the animal's abdomen. This lets others know the pet has been sterilized. It is also easier for veterinarians to see than a scar.
"We've been doing (the tattooing) since the start," McLaughlin said. "It's actually very rewarding when we do see the green scar because we know that we've already fixed them."
The green tattoo is the ASPCA's marking. Ortman founded The Fix Is In after learning about the organization's National Spay and Neuter Project.
"I went through the application process with them at the time and we received help applying for a grant in order to purchase all the equipment and supplies that were required to start and the ASPCA also provided training to our clinic team," Ortman said.
She is a big proponent of sterilizing animals to reduce the high number of cats and dogs in shelters.
"I was involved with animal welfare groups and thought that spay and neuter was where it all starts, where the solution to the problem begins in reducing pets' homelessness and overpopulation," Ortman said. "We want all pets to have wonderful homes. If we can get our overpopulation numbers down hopefully we can do better at getting pets in forever homes."
The ASPCA has since discontinued the program but it does offer grants to the clinics.
The Fix Is In is a non-profit organization funded primarily through grants and donations. The organization's biggest fundraiser of the year is the Spay-ghetti and No Balls Dinner, which will raise money for equipment, repair/
maintenence costs and replacement costs.
The event will be held at Holiday Acres Resort from 5 to 8:30 p.m. Feb. 24.
The Spay-ghetti Dinner has been held for five years.
"When the group first started we offered spay and neuter services through what we called 'in-clinic clinics' and we would hold Spay Day with volunteer veterinarians in the area and the services would be restricted to people based on their income level," Ortman said.
Donations and grants help keep prices affordable, Ortman noted.
"Donations help us keep our prices where they're at," she said. "We've been fortunate enough to receive some grants that help people get surgeries done at even lower costs than our regular prices. I think it means a lot to (the owners) that they can afford to do what's right for both their family and their pet."
"Anybody can use our services, they just have to be healthy pets," McLaughlin added. "Our vet does do a general exam on each patient too, so if there is something that seems alarming with the animal health-wise, obviously she just denies the animal."
Since its founding in July 2012, The Fix Is In has sterilized approximately 8,000 pets. On an average clinic day the veterinarian will see approximately 25 patients, according to Ortman.
"It's really been established that this kind of service is needed throughout northern Wisconsin and the demand for our services is really, really high," she said.
Still, the number of intact animals surprises Ortman. She said they see more cats than dogs.
"The cats don't seem to stop coming, there's just so many out there," she said.
The Fix Is In also offers vaccine clinics in the spring and fall. A clinic will be held in Rhinelander March 21 and Minocqua April 11. Hours are 9 a.m. to noon.
The vaccine clinics are walk-in visits and pet parents can get their pets a rabbies vaccine for $5. It's $10 for distemper and $20 for a microchip.
The clinic offers the one- and three-year rabbies vaccine and one- and three-year distemper vaccine.
"It's an affordable spay/neuter and the services that come with it," Ortman said. "Everybody loves their pets and they want to have healthy pets and want them to live as long as possible. Spaying and neutering is one way that they can do something to help in that area and at the same time not bring more cats or dogs into the world that they can't care for."
The Fix Is In accepts only cash payments.
They have four paid staff members. The other workers are volunteers who help with returning phone calls, entering patient records, paperwork, cleaning surgical instruments and other routine tasks.
For more information on The Fix Is In, the Spay-ghetti dinner or to become a volunteer, call (715) 550-7729 or visit http://the-fix-is-in.org.
To make a donation, visit Fix Is In's website or mail to 34 S. Brown Street, Rhinelander.
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
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