ASPCA To Celebrate Grand Opening of ASPCA Spay/Neuter Clinic In Glendale, Queens

RSVP: Please RSVP in advance to Mallory Kule, [email protected], to ensure access to the facility and light lunch. We look forward to seeing you at the clinic!

WHAT: The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) is celebrating the grand opening of its new stationary spay/neuter clinic, located in Glendale, Queens with a media open house and tour of the new facility. Media will have the opportunity to tour the surgery area, holding rooms, exam rooms, one of the ASPCA's five state-of-the-art mobile clinics, as well as interview key ASPCA staff. A light lunch will also be served.

WHEN: Tuesday, June 7, 2011 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

WHERE: ASPCA Spay/Neuter Clinic, 70-25 83rd Street in Ridgewood, Queens 11385 (The clinic is located in the Glendale neighborhood but has a Ridgewood mailing address.)

WHY: "The opening of our stationary Spay/Neuter Clinic is a tremendous addition to the ASPCA's spay/neuter program," said Aimee Christian, vice president of spay/neuter operations for the ASPCA. "We will be able to perform approximately 10,000 more surgeries each year, in addition to the 30,000 we handle aboard our five mobile clinics, for a total of 40,000. This will reduce the number of puppies and kittens born without homes and move us closer to our ultimate objective--to end dog and cat homelessness in New York City."

DETAILS: The ASPCA clinic will focus on providing spay/neuter services for animal rescuers with free-roaming/feral cats and rescued dogs and cats, but will also spay/neuter owned large-breed dogs by appointment, as well as handle emergency walk-ins. The clinic is an interim facility that will operate through 2012, when the ASPCA expects to complete construction of a permanent spay/neuter clinic at its Manhattan headquarters.

The new clinic is outfitted with modern equipment and works in tandem with the ASPCA's transport service, which provides free rides to spay/neuter candidates, including feral cats and cats and dogs from local rescue groups, with a minimum of 20 animals.

A notable benefit of the opening of the Glendale facility is the projected increase in the number of spay/neuter surgeries performed specifically on feral cats. Last year, the ASPCA performed 7,000 surgeries on feral cats; the new clinic could help the ASPCA triple that number. The ASPCA will work with several Trap/Neuter/Return (TNR) organizations in order to effectively target free-roaming/feral cats in the five boroughs.