License plates to help pay for local pet fixing

By: 
Dylan Brown
Funding is now available to help make sure pet population problems get fixed in Washington County.
 The Weiser River Animal Shelter and Rescue secured a $5,000 grant to help local residents cover the costs of spaying or neutering cats and dogs. Anyone living within Washington County is eligible to apply for sterilization assistance on the non-profit group’s website, www.weiserriveranimalshelter.com.
 “Pet owners who can pay some of the cost themselves will allow us to help spay/neuter more pets,” the group said in a news release. “However, if you cannot afford any of the cost for the procedure, we’ll cover the costs entirely.”
 The grant was just a portion of $124,336 handed out last year statewide from revenue generated by Idaho’s “pet friendly” license plates. 
 Since the state legislature created the program in 2019, more than 6,000 drivers have purchased the specialty plate featuring a happy Labrador and feline, according to the Idaho Department of Transportation. 
 By state law, $22 of the $35 registration fee and $12 of $25 renewal fees go into the Idaho Humane Society’s Pet Lovers Fund. Municipal animal shelters, registered non-profits and licensed veterinarians can then apply for grants that must go toward spaying and neutering.
 “The primary focus is to help the rural areas where residents don’t have resources to sterilize their pets or who can not afford the full cost of the surgery,” said Lisa Kauffman, a grant administrator and former state director for the Humane Society of the United States. “Our goal is to slow down the number of unowned animals reproducing that end up in the shelter or rescue system.”
 Washington County had not received any funding until last year’s application from the Weiser River Animal Shelter and Rescue.
 Group Chairman John Aegerter, who himself now cares for roughly 20 cats among other animals, said he hopes to stretch the funding as far as possible to shrink the number of vulnerable animals on local streets.
 Since its founding in January 2023, his group has pushed to establish the county’s first animal shelter, but struggled to find a suitable location. The group has hopes for a property near the Weiser Community Fishing Pond. The Weiser City Council this week considered a proposal to change city zoning code to allow for an animal shelter on the property.
 

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Signal American

18 E. Idaho St.
Weiser, ID 83672
PH: (208) 549-1717
FAX: (208) 549-1718
 

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