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Cannon families take care of their pets

  • Published
  • By Greg Allen
  • 27th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
CANNON AIR FORCE BASE -- --  Base Airmen, their families and pets joined local residents as they took advantage of a low-cost spaying and neutering event sponsored by the Santa Fe, N.M., Animal Shelter and Humane Society Feb. 13-15 in Clovis, N.M. 

According to Eva Paloheimo, coordinator of the mobile animal shelter, more than 100 pets were spayed or neutered and received inoculations for $20 per pet, well below the average local cost. About 30 Cannon families brought in their pets to the mobile shelter. 

"We were invited to come down because there is pet overpopulation here and there is a desperate need for affordable service," said Ms. Paloheimo. Veterinarians from Santa Fe volunteered to make the trip and provide their services. The van houses all the medical equipment necessary to spay or neuter pets as well as provide other services such as treating mange. It costs an average of $2,000 a day to operate. 

The event jumpstarts National Spay Day, which is officially scheduled for Feb. 24, according to information from the National Humane Society of the United States. Events throughout the month, such as the one in Clovis, emphasize the need to spay and neuter pets to prevent overpopulation. More than four million cats and dogs were euthanized at animal shelters last year. 

Staff Sgt. Luis Mejia and his wife Alex arrived early Sunday morning with their two cats that needed spaying. The mobile van was parked outside Rewards Dog Obedience School on Seventh Avenue, which served as a registration and recovery area. 

"This is really a good deal," said Sergeant Mejia,  27th Special Operations Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, as Alex began filling out paperwork. "We can drop them off and they will call when they are ready to be picked up. You can't beat that." 

The entire process of spaying, neutering and vaccinating took about three hours and included pet recovery. That's where Airmen volunteers came into the picture. Once the pets were registered, they were put in cages where volunteers calmed them with attention. They would bring the pet into the van and heft it up to a scale to be weighted. A veterinarian technician would take over from there. Once the procedure was complete, Airmen would carry the semi-conscious animal inside the building for recover. 

"It'll take two of us to carry the larger dogs out of the van," said Tech. Sgt. Mike Roxberry, 27th Special Operations Support Squadron. "We then make sure they are comfortable after we put them in a cage." 

Ms. Paloheimo said more women than men volunteer to help at events such as these and she appreciated the Airmen. 

"Not only do they have the strength to move some of the bigger dogs, they showed up early and remained until everything was done," she said. "I wouldn't mind if they would like to come on the road with us to other places we travel to." 

Another volunteer, Senior Airman Jake Smith, 27th Special Operations Logistics Readiness Squadron, has been at Cannon for more than two years, and said that although he has volunteered for events in the past, this was his first time working directly with animals. 

"I heard about it from my supervisor who heard about it from his wife," said Airman Smith as he petted a nervous dog through a kennel cage. 

Indeed, it seemed that word of mouth was very effective at getting the word out. Linda Cross, the organizer for the event in Clovis, sent out a short news release just days before the event. It ran in the local newspaper and the Cannon Connections. The word quickly spread. 

By Friday a recorded message about the event informed callers that all reservations had been booked. 

"We would definitely like to get the van here later in the year," said Mrs. Cross. "We will work to have some fundraisers to make it happen."

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