Pet Overpopulation Problem

Every day, 70,000 puppies and kittens are born, while only 10,000 people are born. Do the math…there just aren’t enough homes.

The pet overpopulation epidemic is so staggering that for every companion animal in the United States to have a home, each and every person would have to own six dogs and nine cats. So, a family of four would have to own 24 dogs and 36 cats.

Locally, the Asheville Humane Society (Buncombe County Animal Control) reports that between 8,000 and 10,000 animals enter their shelter annually. Of this number, some are reunited with their owners, some are adopted, but most, more than 6,000, must be euthanized. The number is steadily decreasing, thanks to the efforts of ACN, the Asheville Humane Society, the Humane Alliance Spay/Neuter Clinic, and other like-minded organizations, who seek to improve local animal ordinances and to provide education and affordable pet sterilization services to the public. But the numbers are still too high!

It is now the law in the City of Asheville and Buncombe County – your pet must be spayed or neutered unless you have purchased an unaltered pet permit. You will be fined if found to be not in compliance. Need more reasons to spay or neuter your pet?

Spay/Neuter Assistance

To combat the problem, to aid the public in complying with the law, and to save countless animals from neglect, abandonment, and euthanasia, ACN offers a variety of spay/neuter financial assistance, making it affordable for anyone to sterilize their pets. All of our subsidized surgeries are performed by the Humane Alliance Spay/Neuter Clinic.

$35 Spay/Neuter Vouchers. The subsidized voucher program has been discontinued. For more information, click here.

Through generous donations and grants from like-minded individuals and organizations, ACN is able to offer additional assistance, up to the entire cost of sterilization.

The Betty Fund. The Betty Fund, supported by donations from private individuals and grants, provides for some or all of the cost of sterilization for the pets of economically disadvantaged, elderly, disabled, and otherwise indigent residents of Western North Carolina. Proof of need and a co-pay of $25 is requested, but ACN takes all factors into consideration when determining eligibility. Find out more about the Betty Fund, print out an application*, or make a donation.

The PETsMART Charities Program. Thank you to PETsMART Charities for generously granting ACN almost $10,000 to extend our successful Betty Fund program into outlying counties. We succeeded in altering 281 cats and dogs from Madison, Henderson, Haywood, McDowell and Rutherford Counties. Even more exciting, Rutherford County is now using this PETsMART Charities grant as a basis for creating a new, monthly spay/neuter transport that will continue to help their animals long into the future. Thank you PETsMART Charities for another lifesaving program!

Other Financial Assistance. Other assistance is available: for instance, another ACN program is dedicated primarily to the spaying/neutering of large-breed dogs and is not intended for shelter animals or other un-owned pets. Just ask... we will find the right assistance program to help you. No one requesting assistance will be turned away. Contact us by email, call 828-258-4820, or stop by one of our adoption days at PETsMART.

About the Betty Fund

The Betty Fund Spay/Neuter Project was established in 2000 in honor of a two-year-old stray Golden Retriever mix. Betty gave birth to 18 puppies in just one year. It wasn't until Animal Compassion Network became involved that this terrible cycle stopped. Betty's last litter of eight pups was rescued from the mud underneath a trailer and put into a foster home. Betty was rescued, spayed, and put into rehabilitation.

Betty now has a wonderful, loving family and her puppies went on to carefully screened homes. But the costs of this one rescue were staggering; hundreds of dollars were spent in medical expenses, food, and care for the dog and her eight pups. In response, ACN started the Betty Fund with the sole purpose of providing spay/neuter assistance to those in need, to prevent more cases like Betty’s.

The Betty Fund is supported with grants and donations from individuals like you. Please help us to help dogs like Betty. Any amount is appreciated, but for only $45, a pet can be spayed or neutered through ACN. You can contribute via PayPal or by mailing your donations to ACN/Betty Fund, PO Box 1704, Skyland, NC 28776. All gifts are tax-deductible. Thanks for caring!

Betty (top). Betty with Jordan-her new brother (right middle). Ali (left) and Katie (right) - two of Betty's pups.

About the Humane Alliance

The Humane Alliance Spay/Neuter Clinic in Asheville is dedicated to ending pet overpopulation by providing high-volume, low-cost sterilization of companion animals. In 2002, the Humane Alliance sterilized 13,872 companion animals. More than 106,000 companion animals have been spayed and neutered at the facility since the organization opened its doors in 1994. The cost of each surgery is subsidized with grants obtained and donations raised through the efforts and commitment of its staff, its Board of Directors, and its partner organizations (30 organizations in 22 counties).

The Humane Alliance offers a transport system to increase spay/neuter availability in the communities with the most severe pet overpopulation problems. Their transport unit operates Monday through Friday, providing pick-up and delivery to patients with the supervision assistance of a local humane organization.

Please note: If you plan to use an ACN voucher to pay for the cost of surgery at the Humane Alliance, please obtain the voucher before making an appointment. If your pet does not have a current rabies vaccination, the Humane Alliance will vaccinate your pet at an additional charge of $8.00. Visit the Humane Alliance web site for directions to the clinic.