Have A Heart Pet Shelter in Yellville received an American Rescue Act Plan (ARPA) grant last year to purchase surgical equipment to outfit a wet prep room and surgical suite onsite at the Shelter. The Shelter did its first surgeries last summer when the military Innovative Readiness Training team performed surgeries for nine days at no expense to pet owners. During that time, 100 surgeries were performed.
Starting last November, the Shelter contracted with three local veterinarians who were willing to provide surgical services one day per week. Up until May 2nd, surgery has been performed on 465 animals of pet owners at federal low-to-moderate income levels.
This past month the Shelter signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Bissell Pet Foundation’s “Fix the Future” Program, a national spay and neuter initiative that was launched in 2023 to address the lack of access to affordable veterinary care for both shelters and pet owners. Through the deployment of a trusted network of nearly 100 relief veterinarians, Bissell Pet Foundation is breaking the barriers to affordable and accessible spay/neuter.
The program requires that shelters charge a maximum of $25 per pet to the community on days that contract vets are performing surgery. The goal is to provide spay and neuter to the community as close to free as possible. This is available to people of all income levels. If you have a pet that needs to be spayed or neutered, please contact Have A Heart Shelter at 870/449-7387 and get your name on the list to be called to set up an appointment. Together we can make a difference!