Humane Society offers mobile sterilizations

Twenty-nine groggy cats lay in cages and carriers Monday afternoon inside the Veterans Memorial Hall in downtown Shelton.

The cats were awaiting the return of their owners after being either spayed or neutered by members of the Humane Society of Mason County’s new Mobile Animal Sterilization Hospital (MASH). The services are offered to low-income residents, with spaying and neutering cats $50 and dogs $100, vaccines and flea treatments for $10, and microchipping $20. On Wednesday, the team spayed and neutered dogs at the hall.

North Mason pet owners have the opportunity when the MASH team conducts a clinic April 11 and 12 at the Salmon Center in Belfair. The mobile clinics all have the same schedule: patient intake from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m., surgeries and recovery between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., vaccines, microchipping and wellness examinations from 2 to 3 p.m., and the animals are discharged from 3 to 4 p.m.

The pet owners must be Mason County residents and qualify as low-income status. If you are currently enrolled and receiving benefits from the following programs, you are qualified for the program: Social Security, disability, food stamps, Section 8 public housing, WIC, Medicaid and unemployment.

To make an appointment for surgery, vaccine or microchip, visit the group’s website at http://www.hsmcwa.org/ or call 360-275-9310.

The MASH team has also treated animals at St. Germain Church in Hoodsport. Tina Nutt, president of the Humane Society of Mason County, said the group is looking for a fourth clinic location in the Matlock area.

The organization hosts its Sails ‘n Tails Dinner Auction at 5:30 p.m. May 14 in the Clubhouse Restaurant at the Alderbrook Golf & Country Club. Some of the proceeds from the event will fund the MASH clinics.

The Humane Society of Mason County owns 5 acres next to North Mason High School, where it plans to build an animal shelter. The land has been cleared, fences erected and a well dug, and the organization is working with architects on a design, Nutt said.

The center will be constructed in two phases, with a total cost of between $3.5 and 4 million, she said.