by Marian Chavez
Daily Lobo
About 40 UNM students took advantage of a free spaying or neutering of their dogs on Saturday.
Brenda Myer, an employee at the Eastside Animal Care Center, said some students had more than one dog they got fixed.
"So we've probably done at least 50 animals," Myer said.
The center only extended the offer to dogs.
Fix 'em for Free, an event sponsored by the Animal Humane Association and the City of Albuquerque, was targeted this time around to UNM students who needed to get their dogs spayed or neutered for free.
Vanessa Strobble, a freshman journalism major, took her puppy Bruce Wayne to the center. She said she saw an advertisement on campus and decided to take advantage of the offer.
"This is a great event," Strobble said. "And it saved me some money."
Along with the opportunity to spay or neuter their pets, city regulations require a microchip be inserted in the neck of each dog taken to get fixed. While the spaying or neutering was free, the center charged $13 for the microchip procedure.
"We insert the microchip for easy identification and to help find pets," Myer said. "Some animals that have the microchip have been found up to two years later."
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Samantha Phillips, a UNM senior, said she thought the chip was a good idea.
"We need to have control over what we can to ensure what we love," she said.
Her sedated pit bull Siren didn't seem to mind.
The city of Albuquerque sponsors Fix 'em for Free events around the city at least four times per year to promote community service and to control the pet population.
"We have approximately 30,000 animals arriving at our facilities per year," said Orlando Solis, marketing manager with the city's Environmental Health Department. "We do this to help with the pet overpopulation issue."
Solis said they targeted college students for this event because spaying and neutering can be expensive.
He said the procedure costs the city approximately $50 per animal.
"And we provide a community service," he said.
While many students may not have been aware of the event, there will be more opportunities like this one later in the year. Solis said the next one will be in December.
"Although we're not sure what our target group will be," he said.
