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Bob Jacobs and Nancy Rutherford with SNIPP, the Spay and Neuter Inner-city Pet Program, load up another pair of felines for a trip to the Winnipeg Humane Society. (ROB BROWN)

A low-cost transportation service is ma­king life a little easier for some North End pet owners and their feline friends.

The Spay and Neuter Inner-city Pet Program, or SNIPP, provides transportation to the Winnipeg Humane Society’s Fort Garry offices to about 600 cats each year. The cats are spayed or neuter­ed and returned to their owners the following day at a cost of $20 to the owner.

The service was launched by officials with the Humane Society and the city’s an­imal services agency in December 2008 after they became aware that many inner city pet owners had no way of transporting their cats to the shelter.

It’s part of an overall strategy aimed at reducing the number of unwanted pets in the city. The city, Humane Society and pet owners share in the cost of the service.

Terry Dowling, who lives on Magnus Avenue, recently used the service to transport his cat Peanuts to the pet shelter.

Dowling said the service is a great option for pet owners who may not have access to their own vehicle.
"When some people don’t have the wherewithal to get themselves across the city, let alone an animal as well, this is a great answer," he said.

Right now, word of mouth is the main way that word is getting out about the service.

Nancy Rutherford and Bob Jacobs are volunteer drivers with SNIPP. Each Tuesday afternoon they pick up as many as a dozen cats from homes in the North End and transport them to the Humane Society at 45 Hurst Way.

Rutherford said that while the program is making a difference, it can be frustrating at times.

"This is really only one drop in the bucket," she said of the city’s chronic stray cat problem.

Bill Macdonald, CEO of the Winnipeg Humane Society, said programs like SNIPP play a key role in helping to con­trol Winnipeg’s stray pet population.

His organization spays or neuters approximately 4,600 cats each year, a number which Macdonald said needs to dramatically increase.

"To put a serious dent in things and see Winnipeg cat numbers drop from year-to-year, we’d have to double our current output to somewhere in the neighbourhood of 8,000 cats," he said.

Macdonald said two feral cats that aren’t spayed or neutered could end up producing hundreds of offspring in a single year.

"Beginning with a male and female and a litter of four to six cats in 60 days — each of those cats will be mature in two months and by the time the year is out you have potentially 1,700 cats on your hands," he said.

Leland Gordon, chief operating officer with the city’s animal services branch, said getting pets spayed or neutered is as important as providing then with food, shelter and medical care.

"This means not letting them disrupt neighbourhoods by being too noisy, letting them get out, licensing them and getting them spayed or neutered," he said.

Gordon said a significant portion of the 10,500 plus calls for service the agency received in 2010 concerned stray animals. He said the number of calls about unlicensed stray dogs is particularly troublesome.

"Only about 10% of the dogs we pick up are licensed," he said, noting a majority of calls for service are from north Winnipeg.

"Licenses are available for purchase at most Winnipeg area veterinary clinics, pet stores and animal shelters," Gordon said, adding that thanks to online hubs such as petfinder.com and Facebook, the city processed 470 pet adoptions last year, doubling the number from just in 2008.

To book an appointment with SNIPP call 995-4405. To purchase a city dog license call 986-2155.  
For more information and to view dogs for adoption visit:  www.winnipeg.ca/animalservices

rob.brown@canstarnews.com