World Spay Day is Feb. 23!

A coalition of shelter organizations is offering a special surgery day for pet owners in Riverside County. The date is Feb. 23, also known as World Spay Day.

The group, named the Animal Welfare Coalition of Riverside County, offered its first spay day last November, an event that focused on spaying cats. This time surgeries will be for cats and dogs at some of the organizations. Other agencies may select to perform only cat surgeries.

Pet owners will get a special, discounted rate – just $25 – on the event day.

Participating organizations include: Animal Friends of the Valleys (Wildomar), Animal Samaritans (Thousand Palms), Loving All Animals (Coachella), Mary S. Roberts Pet Adoption Center (Riverside), Moreno Valley Animal Services, Palm Springs Animal Shelter, Ramona Humane Society (San Jacinto) and Riverside County Animal Services (Jurupa Valley and San Jacinto shelter locations).

Some of the organizations have pre-arranged appointments for the event. Interested pet owners should visit the websites for each organization to check on appointment availability. Demands for the appointments will likely be high, and each organization has a finite number available.

The Animal Welfare Coalition of Riverside County was formed in the summer of 2020 with the mission to foster collaboration and communication between the nonprofit and government sheltering organizations to better serve the needs of pet owners and animals. The cities of Corona and Norco are also coalition members.