Ten years after starting a spay and neuter program for shelter animals, Broken Arrow has a way to do the surgeries on site.
The city partnered with Spay Oklahoma in 2005 to spay and neuter adopted animals, but that involved driving dogs and cats to Bixby twice a week. Broken Arrow's new animal shelter opened in 2011, but it wasn't until now that its surgical suite was outfitted with the $15,000 worth of necessary equipment.
Now, OSU graduate Dr. Jennifer Livesay will be at the shelter twice a week.
"The biggest killer of dogs and cats in Oklahoma is being unwanted in a shelter," Livesay said. "To me, being able to help in a shelter situation is one of the biggest contributions I can make to animal health."
Animals ready to be adopted or heading to adoption events will be put into the surgical queue. Livesay's workload depends on how many animals are adopted.
"I work with other shelter groups as well. I have done, you know, 20 surgeries in a day," Livesay said. "As many people want to come adopt, we can handle that."
Broken Arrow residents approved a bond issue in 2010 for the animal shelter. A surgical suite was included in the design but not equipped at the time.
