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Pet Project

Animal Outreach of the Mother Lode

The bond that humans share with companion animals is best summarized in two words: unconditional love. Who can ever forget their first cat; the way she nestled in your lap for hours no matter how awful you were feeling on a particular day, and during the times when no one on two legs wanted anything to do with you. While loyalty is a shaky science where human beings are considered, it is a given with pets. This fact makes it all the sadder the number of area cats that, each day, are abandoned, mistreated and simply left behind. Thankfully there are non-profit organizations like Animal Outreach of the Mother Lode, doing its part to control pet overpopulation by sheltering and finding homes for abandoned animals of El Dorado County and beyond.

A low-cost spay/neuter/vaccination clinic and a cat shelter, Animal Outreach of the Mother Lode allows all area residents to afford a companion cat by offering cost-effective spay and neutering services. Doing so not only levels the playing field with regard to who can and cannot afford to own a cat, but also responsibly addresses the issue of pet overpopulation. 

“The low-cost spay and neuter program we provide helps control pet overpopulation in the community and surrounding areas,” according to Maggie Killackey, director of the Animal Outreach of the Mother Lode. “Our shelter animals are spayed and/or neutered, vaccinated, wormed, tested for leukemia, and micro-chipped before they are adopted. Micro-chipping enables the animal to be returned to his or her owner if he becomes lost.”

Beyond these services, the organization offers immunizations, pre-operative and after-surgery care to cats requiring it, and also sponsors a variety of animal adoptions throughout the area. “We now handle small dogs and work with the county animal control and other animal welfare organizations,” Killackey says. “We have also increased our areas for adopting for cats, which has allowed us to take in more stray or owner-relinquished cats to find new homes for them.”

The expansion of Animal Outreach of the Mother Lode is due to the tireless efforts from people in the organization, whose passion has helped the organization evolve. But the contributions and acceptance of a pet-centric community cannot be overlooked. Positive reception and participation from area pet lovers also deserve credit. Since 1992, Animal Outreach has spayed and neutered over 50,000 cats, sheltering 800 cats in 2008 alone, finding new homes for about 750 of them through the group’s adoption sites. These efforts, in combination with cost-effective services, help control the pet population, which gone unchecked, results in far more unfavorable statistics. That said, Killackey adds that educating the public about pet overpopulation is a huge challenge that still faces the organization, and one of its continued goals. <hr>
To learn more about Animal Outreach of the Mother Lode, make a donation or get involved, visit <a target="_blank" href="http://www.animaloutreachs.info">animaloutreachs.info</a> or call 530-642-2287.