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Pandemic caused backlogs for spaying, neutering pets

PITTSBURGH — People who got a new puppy or kitten during quarantine are dealing with a delay in getting their new pet spayed or neutered.

Animal Friends in had to shut down its clinic for two months because of the pandemic, postponing hundreds of surgeries. They’re back up and running again, but it’s going to take a while to catch up. With limited staffing, the number of surgeries they can perform has been cut in half.

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“We are only scheduling appointments about a month of advance right now because we just know the demand so high and we are trying to help as many people and pets as possible,” said Cody Hoellerman, Animal Friends Director of Communications.

Holllerman said pet overpopulation is a big problem, which is why they encourage people to get their pets spayed or neutered – in addition to medical and behavioral reasons.

“If you do have an unaltered pet in your home, you’re being very cautious very mindful of those types of things speaking to your veterinarian to know what to look out for,” Hollerman said.

Animal Friends is also faced with the challenge of supplies to perform the surgeries, including PPE.

“It’s definitely been more of a challenge to get our usual supply in a timely fashion there’s definitely been delays with shipping like that we are running out of very quickly,” said Dr. Amanda Zetwo, Animal Friends Medical Director.

If you’d like to help the clinic purchase addition PPE, CLICK HERE.