Plymouth animal charity opens its first onsite spaying clinics

A Plymouth animal welfare charity has realised its life-long ambition to open a dedicated onsite spaying clinic for animals in its care.

More than £30,000 in grant funding and donations has been raised by Woodside Animal Welfare Trust to convert a disused building into a dedicated spaying facility at the charity’s base in Elfordleigh near Plymouth.

Every year Woodside rehomes more than 1,000 animals, all of whom are spayed or neutered as part of the charity’s commitment to preventing unwanted litters.

Until now, these animals have been transported to Woodside’s part-time spaying clinic at its charity shop on Wolseley Road in Plymouth.

However the disruption has proved distressing for some of the animals, as well as a financial drain on the charity in terms of staffing and transport.

Woodside founder Carole Bowles said: “Having a dedicated onsite facility will reduce the distress caused by the animals having to travel to and from the vets. Quite often on journeys there'll be a mix of animals in a van, that can be quite stressful. Then there is the travelling time involved.”

She added: “This has been a lifelong ambition of the charity but we have not had the spare funds to be able to do it. We could not have done it without the grant funding and donations.”

The conversion has been made possible thanks to a £15,000 grant from The Gerrick Rose Animal Trust as well as additional grant funding and a £10,000 donation from a Woodside supporter in memory of her parents.

Work began last spring to convert disused kennels into a clinic equipped with an operating theatre, two recovery areas and pens for up to 12 animals.

Once a week, a vet now visits the sanctuary to carry out the operations, in addition to a day already set aside for medical checks and immunisations.

At the part-time Wolseley Road clinic, the charity will continue its community spaying and neutering programme, which remains a fundamental part of Woodside’s work.

“The onsite clinic will save on wages as we will not have to send staff off site, it will save on fuel costs and also wear and tear on the vehicles,” Carole said. “If any of the animals are distressed we are nearby, which makes a real difference.”

Preventing unwanted animal litters has been at the heart of Carole’s work since she started out in animal welfare back in the 1970s.

At the time she worked with a group of like-minded friends to launch a pilot programme which made spaying and neutering affordable for pet owners on low incomes.

This commitment to responsible pet ownership and the prevention of animals being unnecessarily put to sleep, has remained at the heart of Carole’s animal welfare work since.

“We were pioneers when we started,” she said. “We do more spaying and neutering because it’s working. The public are finally tuned into how important spaying and neutering is.”

For more information on the charity please call Woodside on 01752 337552, visit www.woodsidesanctuary.org.uk or find the charity on Facebook.