A new low-cost spay and neuter clinic for cats is on track to open in a few weeks and founder Sharon Rubin said demand is already "overwhelming."
is having an open house at 405 David Street on Aug. 3 and Aug. 10 from 10 a.m. til 2 p.m. in lieu of its tentative opening date of Aug. 20. While website bookings for spay and neuters are on track to open on August long weekend, there's already been an influx of inquiries.
"I have people calling me saying that they want to book the appointment, but that they live in Nanaimo," she said, adding they are accepting bookings from up Island. "These are not people that would have gone to a regular full-service clinic and are just coming here because of the cost. They legitimately did not have the money for a regular clinic. Some of these cats are three, four, five, six years old, and they've just been living with them that whole time, unfixed."
The clinic is run by the Itty Bitty Kitty Committee, a non-profit started by Rubin, a tax accountant, with her two teenage daughters less than two years ago. After volunteering with cat rescue organizations, Rubin was inspired to fundraise for a neonatal unit so she could help small kittens in distress or newborns without moms. The non-profit also started adopting out cats. But soon, Rubin's ambitions grew.
"Once I really got heavy into rescue, I realized that you cannot rescue your way out of this problem. You just can't. There are too many cats and kittens out there, and if we saved all of them, it just wouldn't help because there's just going to be more.
"The solution to the problem ultimately is affordable spay and neuter," she said.
Through fundraising, Rubin purchased a large mobile trailer and equipped it as a surgical unit.
The sole purpose of the cruiser, set to serve as a permanent, proper veterinary clinic, is to provide low-cost spay and neuters for cats. The business model and utilitarian design allow for low prices.
"We are not paying for any staff other than the vet med staff. Myself, I'm 100 per cent volunteer," Rubin said. "We've got a ton of volunteers who do this. And we don't have high overhead because we've picked a location to rent that is relatively affordable."
People also must pay for the surgery when booking. Part of the reason is the non-profit aims to be fully booked for procedures each day to keep costs low. If people pay ahead of time, that reduces the likelihood of no-shows.
Rubin said the plan is to spay and neuter a total of 20 animals per day.
The clinic also offers microchips and vaccines at an affordable cost.
"Everybody is going to get all the proper care that they would get in a typical full-service clinic, with the exception that we do not do pre-anesthetic blood work, but a lot of clinics actually don't do that."
The service will also benefit rescues who need affordable spay and neuters so they can continue to do the work that they're doing, she said.
Rubin is currently waiting for the final approval from CVDC to have their accreditation, and after that, the cruiser is ready to rumble. It will mostly stay on site, but will also go out to service the community.
More information can be found at and .
