A non-profit on the Crow reservation is starting to host free spay and neuter clinics again after a year off to help alleviate the growing population of feral dogs.
The pop-up clinic opens this weekend in Lodge Grass. Help Every Pet In Hardin is a non-profit on the Crow reservation that usually hosts four free clinics a year to curb the number of stray pets.
Organizers say they’ve been on a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic and tribal restrictions made mass spay and neuter clinics like this one impossible to do safely.
Rebecca Shirley, who’s been with the organization for fifteen years, says that’s why the number of dogs without homes has gone up since the pandemic started.
“I would say per clinic we would average 150 to 200 animals, that's dogs and cats. With the four clinics we were averaging 7 to 8 hundred per year,” Shirley says.
The Crow reservation doesn't have a shelter for animals. Help Every Pet in Hardin fosters, adopts out and organizes with other nearby groups, like Rez Dog Rescue of Montana in Billings.
Shirley says that these clinics also prevent spreading diseases between dogs.
“So with these clinics, we vaccinate all the dogs of course rabies is always a concern.”
These clinics are sponsored by nonprofit Spay Montana and the Crow tribe. Help Every Pet In Hardin is also planning another free clinic on the Crow reservation in August and another before the year is out.
Taylar Stagner is Yellowstone Public Radio's Report for America Indigenous affairs reporter.
