Humane society near me spay and neuter

Make Sure Your Pet is Spayed or Neutered

Having your pet spayed or neutered is part of being a responsible pet owner and is critical to eliminating pet overpopulation within our community. Having your pet spayed or neutered benefits you, and your pet.

Spay and Neuter Assistance Program

Now accepting applications! The Humane Society for Tacoma & Pierce County offers vouchers to qualified members of the public for low-cost spay and neuter services at local participating veterinarians. To qualify for this program, you must:

• Be a resident of Pierce County or the city of Federal Way
• Be 18 years of age or older
• Be considered a low-income resident within Pierce County guidelines

Spay and Neuter Assistance Program Application (English)

Solicitud para el programa de esterilización de bajo costo (Español) 

1. To apply to the program, please fill out an application. Applications can be filled out digitally or printed.
2. Submit your completed form by one of the three options:

Email your application to 

OR

Mail your application to:

Spay/Neuter Program
The Humane Society for Tacoma & Pierce County
2608 Center Street
Tacoma, WA 98409

OR

Drop off your application in person at the shelter Monday – Sunday from 11:00 am to 5:30 pm

If you or someone you know needs help with the cost of spay/neuter surgery for a pet, but don’t qualify for low-income assistance or are living outside Pierce County or the city of Federal Way, there are several options available. Please visit these low-cost spay/neuter providers for more information about their programs:

• Northwest Spay & Neuter Center
• Pasado’s Safe Haven
• Auburn Valley Humane Society
• Seattle Humane

Spaying & Neutering Protects Your Pets’ Health

We’re big advocates for spaying female pets and neutering male pets here at AHS. In addition to preventing unwanted litters, altering your pet prior to maturity (at 4–6 months old, or before a female’s first heat cycle) offers the best protection against serious health issues and the development of negative behaviors.

Each year, our skilled veterinarians, who have more than 200 years of combined veterinary experience, perform more than 11,000 spay and neuter surgeries for both owned pets and shelter pets at our Sunnyslope Campus.

Pet Eligibility

• Pet Age: 2 months to 8 years with a healthy veterinary exam. Pre-anesthetic bloodwork is required for pets 5 to 8 years old (requires additional $48 fee)
• Pet Weight: 3 to 120 pounds

Spay & Neuter Fees1

A Longer, Healthier Life for Your Pet

Why Spay?

• Spaying helps prevent serious medical conditions in your female cats and dogs, such as uterine infections, uterine/ovarian cancer and breast cancer.
• It’s also far less expensive than the cost of treating an infection, having an emergency C-section, treating cancer or raising a litter of puppies or kittens.

Why Neuter?

• Neutering helps prevent serious medical conditions in your male cats and dogs, such as testicular cancer.
• It also often has a positive effect on your pet’s behavior!
• Neutering makes your pet less likely to mark his territory or spray urine throughout the house, and it tends to make your pet less aggressive and less likely to roam.

Solving Pet Overpopulation

Spaying and neutering is the key to solving the pet overpopulation problem in our community. Valley shelters take in more than 50,000 animals every year. By reducing the number of unwanted litters, we can help give more pets a better life.

At AHS, we do our part by spaying and neutering 100 percent of the adoptable dogs and cats in our care. We are also a proud partner of the Alliance For Companion Animals, a group of five local animal welfare agencies who have teamed up to create the “Fix. Adopt. Save.” initiative—a collaborative effort to encourage responsible pet ownership, and to dramatically increase spay and neuter surgeries and pet adoption rates in the Valley.

Preparing for Your Appointment

Spay/Neuter surgeries are offered at our Marge Wright Veterinary Clinic only.

• Pre-Surgery Instructions

• There are some specific steps you’ll need to take to prepare your pet for their spay or neuter surgery:

  • All patients scheduled for surgery must have a full meal between 6 p.m. and midnight the night before surgery.
  • For patients under one year of age, please feed another full meal between 5 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. the morning of surgery. (Patients over one year of age should not have another meal.)
  • Please allow all patients to drink water normally without restrictions until check-in for surgery. 
  • If these feeding guidelines are not followed, your pet’s surgery will be cancelled and rescheduled.
  • All pets must be at least two months of age and weigh at least two pounds.
  • Dogs must be on a leash and cats must be in their own individual carrier.
  • If your pet displays fearful behavior towards other animals and/or other people, please bring your pet to his/her appointment wearing a basket muzzle. You may also contact our clinic prior to your appointment for medication to sedate your pet prior to their visit.
  • If your female pet is in heat or pregnant, or your male pet has one or both testicles undescended (cryptorchid) and is accepted for surgery, additional fees will apply.

  Your pet will be ready to go home on the same day, so please be prepared to pick up your pet before 5 p.m.

• Is Financial Assistance Available?

• Thanks to generous grants from PetSmart Charities, Circle of Friends and Fix. Adopt. Save, we are able to offer spay and neuter assistance for customers in financial need. At check-in, please ask a team member for a financial assistance application.

  Those with military ID get 10% off clinic services with our Gimme’ 10 special.

Schedule a Spay or Neuter Appointment

Please note that spay/neuter appointments can often be booked out several weeks or months in advance.

• Marge Wright Veterinary Clinic

  At the Sunnyslope Campus

  Tues – Fri, 7AM – 5PM

  Spay & neuter appts only on Tues – Thurs
  Vaccine & microchip appts only on Fri

How much is it to spay a cat?

How much does it cost to spayed a dog?

Can I get help to spay my dog?

How much does it cost to neuter a dog at SPCA?