The mission of SNIP is to prevent the suffering and death of unwanted animals due to overpopulation through low-cost spay/neuter to low-income customers.
As of June 2025, SNIP has fixed over 100,000 pets fixed since 2016 -- and counting!
One of our mobile M.A.S.H.-style units rolls into the outskirts of town at sunrise, greeted by a long line of anxious pets and their owners waiting to check in with our bilingual staff. Many of these owners are so poor that they cannot afford the low cost to have their dog or cat fixed. SNIP waives that fee so those owners can have that pet snipped regardless.
Our vets are trained in "high volume" spay and neuter, specially trained to perform a HIGHER amount of surgeries vs. a bricks-and-mortar vet. We provide accessibility and affordability for our customers who otherwise would not be able to have their animal fixed. We rely heavily on the community for operational support in our mission to end the senseless daily killing of healthy, adoptable animals in shelters.
Even for the average middle-class pet owner, spay/neuter costs have skyrocketed into the hundreds, if not more in some cases. For a population already having challenges making ends meet, having an animal fixed is definitely not in the budget.
Our customers, who are the most vulnerable among us, are located throughout Monterey County, as we travel up and down the county . SNIP Bus provides the bridge from impossible to possible for this population, offering not only affordable spay/neuter, but also vaccines and micro-chipping for pets already being fixed. Additionally, many of our customers do not have their own transportation, so we go to them.
Quote: As a SNIP volunteer, seeing the look of pride when pet owners -- who couldn’t normally afford spay and neuter services -- make the responsible choice to do the right thing for their animals, it's heart warming. It empowers them to be good citizens. As SNIP also partners with shelters to fix "community cats", i.e., ferals, Alison helps with those clinics in Salinas at Hitchcock Rd. Animal Shelter. She works with the trappers, prepping the cats' paperwork, keeping it organized and moving each along with the corresponding cat's cage to transition smoothly to clinic staff. It's often a day-long commitment, due to the high volume of ferals. Alison's teenage sons often work tirelessly alongside her; they are also SNIP "VolunTEENS" and run the "Students Supporting SNIP Club" at their high school. They have also advocated for more spay/neuter funds at two city council meetings.
- Alison D., Carmel
