Altered Tails, a 501c3 organization and the Valley’s largest spay/neuter clinic specializing in high-quality, low-cost services, announced that it is the recipient of a $500,000 grant from PetSmart Charities.

The grant will provide funding to support the opening of the high-volume, high-quality, low-cost clinic, which will provide affordable and accessible spay/neuter services to the Tucson, AZ community.

PetSmart Charities focuses on funding adoption and spay/neuter programs that help communities solve pet overpopulation.

With more than 25,000 animals entering shelters in Pima County each year and thousands more in dire need of spay and neuter services, Altered Tails will collaborate with Pima Animal Care Center to assist them with spay/neuter surgeries when they face overflow conditions due to their high intake numbers.

“We feel that every resident in Pima County should have access to affordable spay and neuter services for their pets,” said Justin Gallick, Pima Animal Care Center executive director of community engagement. “We’re thrilled Altered Tails is going to be part of the team.”

At full capacity, the clinic will provide approximately 9,000 spay/neuter surgeries within the first year of opening and approximately 10,000 – 12,000 spay/neuter surgeries annually in subsequent years, with individual pet owners as their primary clientele.

More than a dozen jobs will be available in the coming weeks for a variety of positions including Veterinarians, Clinic Manager, Veterinary Technicians and Receptionists.

The new Tucson location will be the third clinic for Altered Tails across Arizona. The original clinic, which opened in 2004, is located at 950 W. Hatcher Road in Phoenix. The second, which opened in 2013 is located at 7246 E. Main Street in Mesa.  Through these facilities, in 2015, Altered Tails sterilized over 20,000 cats and dogs.

“On average, pet owners can spend upwards of $400 per surgery at their local veterinarian’s office,” said Altered Tails’ Executive Director Ellen Clark. “Because Altered Tails is a not-for-profit organization that specializes solely in spay and neuter services, we truly are experts within our field and are able to offer the procedure at more affordable prices.”

“Our staff is trained in high-quality and high-volume spay/neuter techniques and we’ve had tremendous success throughout metropolitan Phoenix in reducing the homeless pet population, as well as offering these simple procedures as a way to help pet owners reduce unwanted behaviors and for pets to lead healthier lives. Our team is looking forward to utilizing these fund to expand our services and help the Tucson community as well.”

Please visit www.AlteredTails.org or call 602-943-7729 for more information or to schedule an appointment.