Spaying And Neutering Saves Pets And Prevents Tragedy

We sit down with Laura McCann, executive director of ARC Spay and Neuter Specialists in Sarasota, to talk about the practical fix that changed the region’s animal welfare outlook: affordable, high volume spay and neuter surgery designed to prevent the problem before it hits crisis level.

Laura shares why ARC was founded in 1999, when euthanasia rates in county shelters were heartbreakingly high, and how the organization’s mission has scaled to serve far beyond Sarasota. We dig into the real-world impact of making spay and neuter accessible, including support for rescue groups and animal services that rely on ARC to help pets get ready for adoption. You’ll also hear a candid look at the economics of veterinary care and why so many families are forced to delay treatment, plus how donors and grateful clients help keep nonprofit veterinary services available.

We also tackle common spay and neuter myths head-on, including the idea that sterilization makes pets overweight, and we explain why waiting can raise health risks, especially for older female dogs. Finally, Laura clarifies what ARC does and does not do, and highlights low cost wellness options like vaccines, heartworm testing, and prevention medications that are especially important in Florida.

If you care about pet health, animal welfare, and affordable veterinary care in Sarasota and across Florida, hit play. Subscribe, share with a fellow pet owner, and leave a review so more neighbors can find help when they need it.

Transcript

Welcome To Good Neighbor Podcast

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Virginia McConnell.

SPEAKER_01 0:12

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast Live.

Introducing ARC And The Mission

SPEAKER_01 0:16

Are you in need of a spay and neuter clinic? One might be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Laura McCann, uh, with ARC, Spay and Neuter Specialists. Laura, how are you? I'm great, Virginia. Thank you for having me on your podcast. Yeah, thanks for coming. Thank you for coming. We're excited to learn about you and your business. Can you tell us um about ARC?

SPEAKER_02 0:46

Sure. Uh ARK is a nonprofit. We were founded in 1999 by some very concerned uh business people in Sarasota who wanted to solve the crisis, which was a crisis at the time, of shelter overcrowding and extremely high rates of euthanasia in the shelters. Um, I always say if you were an animal back in 1999 and you went into a county shelter, chances were you were not coming out. Um euthanasia rates were in the high 90th percentile. So yeah. So a group of concerned people got together and they said, What's the solution? And that solution is what we call high volume spay neuter, making surgeries affordable to people so that they can get their animals spayed and neutered and hopefully not have more litters that will again contribute to the overcrowding in the shelters.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

Yeah, and how and how did you get

Laura’s Path From Navy JAG

SPEAKER_01 1:46

into this?

SPEAKER_02 1:47

Me personally, um, I don't have an animal welfare background. I actually was a Navy Jag. Uh, and I just decided about six years ago that I wanted to be where the beach was, and I saw this position for executive director advertised, and I said, you know, that mission sounds really compelling. I think I need to be there. Uh, and the rest was history.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

Oh, I love that so much.

Spay Neuter Myths And Health Risks

SPEAKER_02 2:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:15

Um, and and how, like, what are some myths or misconceptions in this industry that you found?

SPEAKER_02 2:22

It's it's funny, Virginia. There are many. Uh, you hear a lot of people say, oh, well, spaying or neutering makes my animal overweight, false. Uh to the contrary, spay and neutering uh really prevents cancer in animals, whether it's testicular for males, um, uteruses for females. And we've seen actually some very close to fatal situations lately where people waited to spay, particularly their females, waited till they were probably six or seven years old. Um, a lot of them are already overweight to begin with. Um, and it's a very high-risk surgery the older and larger the animals get. Um, they're under anesthesia for a longer period of time, but for females in particular, that they can develop a condition, not to get too technical, it's called pyometra, and actually the uterus gets infected and the animal can die instantly. So we've had three cases in the past few weeks where people came to us begging to spay their animals, and we could tell the dog was sick already, and our vets actually saved those three dogs because the alternative was to put them down, which would have been tragic.

SPEAKER_01 3:39

Wow. Oh my gosh.

Donations And Access To Affordable Care

SPEAKER_01 3:43

Um and so we know marketing is you know the heart of every business and donations and you know things like that. Um, how do you how do you target you know those people and and um how do you attract them?

SPEAKER_02 4:03

Well, like I said, our mission is very compelling. We have shown um amazing impact. We started with serving three counties and now we serve 22. We also serve 35 rescue organizations in Sarasota County Animal Services. They all bring their shelter animals to us for spay neuter. Um, so clearly we're able to demonstrate the impact of what we do, which is sometimes 30 surgeries a day. Um, our rates are affordable. That is the whole mission behind ARC to make our rates uh accessible and affordable to people who might not otherwise spay or neuter their animals. And that certainly is a compelling message for donors. We're very fortunate that ARC has had a long-standing group of supporters who are very generous to us. Uh, we also get donations from the patients themselves who are just really grateful that we exist because private practice rates for veterinary care uh are really expensive now. It's expensive to run a clinic, and um people are just not opting. In fact, 52% of Americans are not getting veterinary care for their animals now uh because of the expense. They're choosing to pay for gas, feed their children, or give their animal care. And it's too bad that those are the the choices. Um, but this is where ARC comes in and is very much appreciated uh in the state of Florida.

SPEAKER_01 5:38

Wow. Well, we really appreciate what you do, my goodness. Um, have you ever thought about having your own podcasts?

Future Podcast Idea And Life Outside Work

SPEAKER_01 5:46

I I thought about it.

SPEAKER_02 5:48

I listened to them constantly. Um, you know, it's something we could do. Uh, we have a wonderful marketing director. Um, and you know, certainly she gets our message out through social media, but you know, but for time sometimes, um, you know, there's certainly that's something we should explore, I think.

SPEAKER_01 6:12

Okay, all right. And outside of work, what do you do for fun?

SPEAKER_02 6:17

I love anything outdoors. I always succumb to my, as I call it, my inner mermaid. Uh, I don't live far from the beach, so between the beach and the pool where I live, I'm usually in the water on the weekends, but um, I appreciate my mobility and I take full advantage of it.

SPEAKER_01 6:37

Awesome.

What ARC Does And Wellness Services

SPEAKER_01 6:38

All right, well, Laura, can you please tell our listeners one thing they should remember about ARC?

SPEAKER_02 6:45

Um well, that first of all, we're not a rescue. Uh our former name was ARC, meaning Animal Rescue Coalition. We've rebranded this past year to specifically state what we do, and that is Spay and Neuter Surgeries. We don't have any animals stay overnight at ARC, except for feral cats, once in a while. Um, we also have wellness. A lot of people are not aware that we have wellness clinics two days a week where they can come to get vaccines, again, low cost. They can get their animals tested for heartworm, which unfortunately is a very prevalent disease in Florida thanks to the mosquitoes. And uh they can also get flea flea in uh tick prevention and heartworm prevention medicine at ARC, again at discounted prices.

How To Book And Support ARC

SPEAKER_01 7:34

Okay, and how can our listeners learn more about ARC?

SPEAKER_02 7:38

Go right on our website. It's arc srq.org. That is where people make their appointments. We do everything online. They fill out uh information about their animal, and then we approve their appointment. Um, and then the other thing we have probably 12,000 followers on our Facebook or socials. So feel free to check us out. Like us, tag us, do whatever you can to get the word out about our mission.

SPEAKER_01 8:10

Okay, awesome. Uh well, Laura, I really appreciate you being on the show, and we wish you and your family and the business, the profit, nonprofit, and ARC moving forward the best.

SPEAKER_02 8:25

Thank you.

ARC Walk Event And Nominate Businesses

SPEAKER_02 8:26

If I could do one plug, we're holding our first ARC walk at Payne Park on Sunday, May 3rd from 9 to 12, dog friendly. So come on out and join us and support us in again raising more awareness for the importance of ARC in this community.

SPEAKER_01 8:45

Awesome. Perfect.

SPEAKER_00 8:49

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpsarasota.com. That's gnpsarasota.com or call 941 941 1865.