Mat-Su Borough rolls out new low-cost spay and neuter programs

 What you need to know:

• The Matanuska-Susitna Borough is launching two low-cost spay and neuter programs to help reduce the number of dogs and cats entering the borough's shelter.
• One program, operated by the borough shelter, will offer 12 procedures each month at either $75 or $150, depending on the animal. A separate program, funded by a borough grant, is expected to cost about $200 per procedure, with about 200 slots available.
• Registration for the shelter-run procedures will open monthly through the shelter's website, officials said. Sign-up details for the grant-funded program have not yet been announced.

PALMER — Mat-Su pet owners will have access to low-cost dog and cat spay and neuter services under two new borough programs aimed at reducing the number of animals surrendered to the shelter.

The procedures will be offered by Matanuska-Susitna Borough Animal Shelter veterinary staff and through a private partnership funded by a $20,000 taxpayer-funded grant approved by the Mat-Su Assembly last month.

Borough officials said procedures subsidized by the grant will likely cost about $200 each, with room to sign up about 200 dogs and cats.

Shelter-operated procedures are less expensive — $75 for cat neuters and $150 for cat spays and all dog procedures — with about 12 slots available per month, shelter director Vanessa Forbes said in an interview. Rabies vaccines and microchipping will also be provided during those visits as needed and at no additional cost, she said.

Surgeries at the shelter cost less than those offered under the grant because they are conducted by borough staff, Forbes said. The costs under both programs are well below those of private clinics, which can run up to $1,000 depending on the size of the animal, according to local clinic price sheets.

Both programs are available to Mat-Su residents only, officials said.

Sign-ups for the shelter program will be available on a rolling monthly basis through its website but are expected to go fast, officials said. Slots for July were filled within minutes of a Facebook post announcing the program last week, they said, and openings for August will be announed by shelter officials in mid-July.

While the borough shelter regularly conducts spay and neuter services for lost animals or those surrendered to its care, the new program is one of the first times it has opened slots to the public. The program is limited to 12 procedures per month to ensure the clinic’s part-time veterinarian has time to provide services to animals housed in the shelter, Forbes said.

“We have to maintain the animals in our care here, and yet we definitely want to help the community as well,” she said.

Specific details for the grant-funded spay and neuter program, including how and when sign-ups will be conducted and final cost information, are still being worked out, borough officials said.

The Mat-Su Assembly ordered the grant program last month as part of the borough’s $484.4 million budget for 2026. It must go through the borough’s official contracting process before opening for registration, officials said, and is likely to carry a limit on the number of procedures allowed per household.

Litters of puppies and kittens surrendered to the borough animal shelter cause capacity challenges and can lead to disease outbreaks, shelter officials said in an interview last year.

Both new programs are designed to help residents while keeping animals out of the shelter, Forbes said.

“I have an obligation to our community to help them, and the more animals that we spay and neuter out in the community, the fewer unwanted puppies and kittens there are out there,” she said. “Effectively, that would reduce our incoming population.”

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com