Assistance Programs

The Humane Society of Freeborn County and Minnesota Spay Neuter Assistance Program (MNSNAP) are joining together on Friday, March 4, 2022 at the Albert Lea Ranch & Pet Supply for the spay/neuter clinic. 

Minnesota Spay Neuter Assistance Program's fully equipped veterinary clinic on wheels delivers low-cost, high-quality spay and neuter surgeries for animals belonging to shelters, rescues and low-income pet owners in Minnesota. They reach pets in neighborhoods where cost, transportation, or the absence of veterinary services is an obstacle to obtaining animal health care and spay/neuter services.

MNSNAP was created by a licensed veterinarian and a group of animal advocates with a goal of reducing the death and suffering of homeless animals all across Minnesota. There are other spay/neuter programs in Minnesota that are designed to help animal shelters and rescue organizations have their dogs and cats altered before adoption; however, until MNSNAP, there hasn’t been any program for income-restricted Minnesotans to have affordable spay/neuter services come to them.

Their mobile surgical unit travels to a pre-scheduled destination for the day. Staff admits each animal, collects fees, and performs pre-operative physical exams. During the day, all the patients will be cared for by MNSNAP’s highly-qualified, licensed veterinarian and her team of experienced and caring veterinary technicians; patients will be anesthetized and surgically sterilized using the most current anesthesia medications, equipment and surgical techniques. All animals are discharged to their owners/caretakers or back to their rescues or shelters the same day.

To qualify for services, the pet owner must show proof of participation in one of the following needs-based public assistance programs: food stamps, Medicaid, free or reduced lunch, Social Security disability, Minnesota Care or medical assistance, the Women, Infants and Children program, Section 8 housing, supplemental security income, major VA disability, or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. The pet owner can also show proof of unemployment or can bring in his or her most recent income tax return showing income of less than $40,000 per household.

To register an animal for surgery, residents should either call the organization at 612-720-8236 or register online at www.mn.snap.org.

Unsocialized Stray Cats, They are living outside in parks or in alleys, perhaps even in your neighborhood. They are cats who live outside without direct human contact. Some have been abandoned to fend for themselves; some of them were born outside.

The Freeborn County Humane Society believes we can improve the lives of these cats and benefit the towns and communities they exist in through our Unsocialized Stray Cat Initiative Program by using the TNR method.

What is TNR?
Trap, Neuter and Return (TNR) is widely recognized as an effective and humane way for managing and reducing unsocialized and stray cat populations. TNR involves humanely trapping these cats and transporting them to a clinic setting where they are spayed or neutered and have their ear-tipped. They may also receive a health check, vaccinations, and may be treated for minor medical conditions. After surgery, the cat is returned back to his colony and habitat – typically where caring individuals are providing food, water and a form of shelter. Since the cats are no longer reproducing, the colony will gradually diminish in size. By reducing or eliminating mating, fighting and wandering, TNR makes the colony more stable, impacts the influx of newcomers, and improves the health of the cats and their environment. Performed on a large scale, the successes of these programs can be felt at animal shelters and animal control facilities where fewer cats are admitted.

Ear-tipping
Ear-tipping is a technique of removing the top corner of the cat’s left ear. This is done while the cat is under anesthesia for its spay/neuter, so there is no pain. The “tipped” ear is the universal symbol that a cat has been through a spay/neuter program, vaccinated, and sterilized – and generally part of a managed unsocialized and stray cat colony. This makes it possible for caretakers to differentiate between cats that have already been sterilized and ones that have not been sterilized yet. Ear-tipping also ensures that a cat will not undergo unnecessary repeat surgery if they are live-trapped again.

Qualifying Cats
This program WILL accept:

• Ferel cats / Neighborhood cats
• Barn cats
• Stray cats

The Goal of this program is to sterilize as many cats as possible, eventually reducing the number of cats that must live as unowned strays. Diverting resources from this goal will result in fewer cats spayed and neutered, and more kittens born into this difficult life. Since FeLV is primarily spread from infected mother cats to their kittens, FIV passes mainly among fighting tom cats through bite wounds, spaying and neutering alone will decrease the spread of these infections. Each female cat can have 3 litters per year, and the average litter size is 4 kittens.

Contact Information Please feel free to contact Dee Amberg, Unsocialized Stray Cat Initiative Program Director at 507.383.0683 or by email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Cost Involved
There is a $20 per/cat fee charged (Vaccinations are included in this fee). Payment is required upon completion of service and can be left at the Blooming Prairie Vet Clinic, checks should be made out to U.S.C.I. program. We are willing to work out a payment plan if you have a large number of cats and find it hard to cover the costs upfront.

Unsocialized Stray Cat application (pdf) Mail to: HSFC Feral Cat Program, P.O. Box 423, Albert Lea, MN 56007.