Dogwood Alter Project

Dogwood Animal Rescue is a very generous organization that is dedicated to the mission of spaying and neutering as many dogs and cats as possible to reduce the overpopulation of local shelters. Beginning at the end of 2021 and continuing through today they have paid for over 14,000 spay and neuter surgeries performed by Valley Pet Care.

Residents of Stanislaus County who fall under the jurisdiction of the Stanislaus Animal Services Agency are eligible to have up to 4 dogs and 4 cats spayed or neutered through the program.

Dogwood requires a co-pay of $30 for a dog spay, $20 for a dog neuter, and $15 for a cat spay or neuter. In addition, there will be a $2 hazardous waste disposal fee assessed per pet. Valley Pet Care requires all pets to be current on their rabies vaccine. If your pet is not up to date the day of surgery, a rabies vaccine will be given to them and you will be charged an additional $25.

If you live in Modesto, Ceres, Patterson, Hughson, Waterford, Salida, Denair, Keyes, Crows Landing, Westley, Hickman, or Empire you qualify. Just bring your ID as proof of residency with you on the morning of surgery.

We must have an ID of your current address on it when checking in. If whoever is checking in the animal has an ID with the same address, they may drop off.

Residents of Turlock, Riverbank, Oakdale, Newman, La Grange, and Farmington are serviced by their own local shelters and are not eligible for the program. Certain unincorporated pockets within the listed towns/zip codes may still be eligible. If you believe that you live in one of the listed areas but are under the jurisdiction of Stanislaus Animal Services, you must contact the shelter to find out if you qualify and they can issue you a voucher.

Each household may have 4 dogs and 4 cats altered. The program is limited to cats, small breed dogs, Pitbulls, Huskies, and German Shepherds.

Stanislaus Animal Services has an alternative voucher program that is available. You must contact them to obtain a voucher.

Make an appointment with us online. We will automatically apply the discount to the surgery based on your address. You must bring a valid ID with your current address on the morning of surgery for us to verify your eligibility.

If you have community cats (unowned, free-roaming) in your yard or neighborhood you may bring those to us as well. There is no limit of number of community cats you can have done, however, they must come in an appropriate cat trap, and we are required to clip their ear tip as part of the TNR program. Due to space and demand, we must enforce a limit of two community cats per trapper per day and appointments are required. Please call us to inquire about the availability of these appointments.

Unfortunately, no, we do not offer a trap rental program.

Dogwood Animal Rescue will pay for all surgical-related charges to residents in the qualifying areas of Stanislau County if they pertain to the spay or neuter. This may include pregnancy termination, in-heat fees, or cryptorchid fees. Post-operative pain medication is always included for every owned pet at Valley Pet Care.

There is a $2 hazardous waste disposal fee assessed per animal to comply with state law. Any other non-spay/neuter-related charges will also be the responsibility of the owner of the animal. These extra charges include vaccines, nail trims, e-collars, microchips, ear assessments/cleanings, anti-parasitic products, or extra procedures. All the above except the rabies vaccine (if not already current) are optional and will be gone over with our pet owners prior to the surgery.

To offset some of the cost of this program, Dogwood requires a co-pay. The amount is $30 for a dog spay, $20 for a dog neuter and $15 for a cat. The deposit will be applied as your co-pay when you come in for surgery. This deposit is non refundable.

The co-pay amount ($30/$20/$15 based on animal) plus a $2 hazardous waste disposal fee. The $2 is to cover the hazardous waste disposal fee assessed per animal that is required by the state. Valley Pet Care requires all animals to be current on their rabies vaccines. If your pet needs a rabies vaccine we will give that the day of surgery. This will increase the cost by $25. Any additional products, services, or procedures selected on the day of surgery will be the responsibility of the owner of the animal.

We are still happy to help you get your animals spayed or neutered. Visit the services tab on our website to see our pricing.

We have a link at the bottom of this page where you can donate directly to Dogwood Animal Rescue so that they can continue to fund this awesome program in our community. Feel free to write a thank you note on a paw print for our bulletin board when you pick up your pet!