PRAIRIE GROVE -- Friends of Prairie Grove Pound will celebrate its new low cost spay/neuter cat clinic with a grand opening and open house from 2-4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21.
The Friends organization has named the clinic, The Village, because of all the people involved in making the facility a reality, according to Sharon Glover, vice president of the board of directors.
The clinic, located at 11114 Little Elm Road in Prairie Grove, is in a section of the building that once housed the city's fitness center. The other half of the building serves as a fire substation.
Friends of Prairie Grove Pound and Northwest Arkansas Community Cat Project have neutered more than 2,000 cats over the past four years through their low cost clinics, Glover said. Some cats are pets, others community cats and some feral cats.
Controlling the cat population is important, Glover said. A female cat can have kittens as young as four months. Cats are able to have four litters a year, with each litter about five kittens. She noted that means 15 kittens can come from one female cat during a year, with the same happening again and again with each girl kitty.
Friends of Prairie Grove Pound has been using the city maintenance facility for its clinics but for more than a year has been raising money with plans to install a standalone metal building near the Prairie Grove Pound.
The opening of a new city library in the old Walmart Express building made it possible for the Friends to meet its goal to move into its own space.
The former library building is being remodeled as living quarters and community space for the 24-hour fire department. The city moved its fitness facility from Little Elm Road to the former children's library building.
Larry Oelrich, the city's director of administrative services and public works, said he threw out the idea of using the former fitness space as a cat clinic after all the exercise equipment had been moved out.
"It worked out perfect for them," Oelrich said.
Glover's reaction is the same.
"We feel like we've moved into the Taj Mahal," Glover said. "I'm thrilled beyond belief."
Friends of Prairie Grove Pound already has used the building for two clinics. Veternarians neutered or spayed 82 cats at the first clinic. The second clinic was held Saturday and 70 cats were registered for surgery.
The cost for services is $15 for surgery, $10 for rabies, $10 for annual shots and $5 to be dewormed. Owners can pay $40 for all services or only pay for what they want. Volunteers also clean ears and trim nails for free.
"It's a huge savings," Glover said, compared to what someone would pay for the procedure and other services in a veterinarian's office.
Work inside the building has included adding walls so that the facility now has storage space, rooms for pre-surgery and surgery and space for recovery. The clinic has a large open area in the middle of the building, restrooms and a break room for volunteers.
To give it a "village" feel, small signs are installed above the doors to different rooms. The bathroom, for example, is called The Village Waterworks. The surgery room is called The Village Hospital. Pre-op room is called The Village Barbershop.
The clinic's front reception space has a mural of a bare tree painted by LaDonna Cudney of Farmington. People will be able to buy leaves and flower petals for the tree in memory of a pet or person.
Another mural depicting a village will be hand-painted by artist Temple Moore of Prairie Grove on a separate wall to show appreciation to those who have donated to the cat clinic.
Glover said the Friends group had raised about $40,000 for a new building and all of this, plus more, has been used to remodel the space.
Oelrich said the city sees a direct benefit from Friends of Prairie Grove Pound and is not charging the volunteer group for using the city building.
"They are managing our cat and dog population and that's good for us," Oelrich said.
Glover said the organization plans to use the building for other purposes, besides a cat clinic. She hopes to sponsor educational programs on many topics, such as wildlife rehabilitation. Another plan is to provide low-cost spay/neuter clinics for dogs in the future.
General News on 09/18/2019