Most animal welfare experts agree: spay/neuter is the most effective method to curbing the pet overpopulation problem. If you’re seeking high quality, low-cost spay/neuter surgery, we’re fortunate to have the international model for Spay/Neuter right here in Buncombe County: the Humane Alliance of Western North Carolina located in west Asheville. This international training institute performs more than 24,000 spay/neuter surgeries each year from our own community and surrounding counties. Teams of veterinarians and technicians travel from all over the United States to learn the state-of-the-art techniques employed by the Humane Alliance. For those in Buncombe County NC:

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North Shore Animal League America’s SpayUSA is a nationwide network and referral service for affordable spay/neuter. Developed in 1993, for nearly 20 years SpayUSA has helped hundreds of thousands of people nationwide obtain low cost, quality spay/neuter services.

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Millions of loveable pets die in animal shelters every year. All it takes from you is a few clicks to share pictures and the stories of these worthy companions… It’s easy:

• Visit: adopt a pet.com
• Search: for great pets
• Share: with your friends

When Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton signed his state’s Omnibus Supplemental Budget Bill, the Beagle Freedom Law, written by Scott Dibble gives research animals the freedom to be adopted. The law mandates that if a dog or cat is used in a tax-payer-funded research experiment and is healthy at the end of the experiment, the lab must offer them up to public adoption through a rescue organization such as Beagle Freedom Project.

Of course, we still advocate a moratorium on all animal testing of any kind but we also recognize these first steps as positive. Read more at: BeagleFreedomProject.org.

Scammers have been stealing images of cute pets from legitimate adoption and social media sites for use in bogus animal rescue ads. These fake ads commonly appear on sites such as Craigslist, targeting people searching for a pet to adopt, but they also appear through private email. Cyber criminals monitor their victims’ online activity, such as Facebook posts. If a target mentions they love dogs or cats, for example, a scammer might contact them claiming to have a pet for adoption.

Cyber criminals have grown more sophisticated in adapting to their targets’ interest, using Americanized names and cleaning up their grammar, but online scams still follow the classic “Nigerian Prince” format. The scammer offers something of value, in this case an attractive pet. If the target responds, the scammer requests money and personal information. The small percentage of victims who have responded never see their pet, nor recover the lost money.

It’s easy to avoid these scams if you deal with local shelters and rescue groups and meet pets in person before any money changes hands. And no matter what, never respond with personal information to unsolicited requests.