News

Spay/neutering nonprofit to shut down March 31

Mary Cervini with Baby Girl.

By Bill Moss, Published: March 9, 2017

Mike and Mary Cervini, who have led an effort that invested $2.5 million to prevent the birth of unwanted dogs and cats, have come to the end of the road in Community Partnership for Pets Inc.

Retirees who could have enjoyed peace and quiet at their mountain-top home in Kenmure, the Cervinis instead started a nonprofit organization in August 2005 and mounted an effort that gave out 56 tons of dog food and cat food, funded $75,000 worth of emergency veterinarian care for 770 animals owned by needy families and made possible more than 26,000 affordable neutering operations.

The goal was to "Improve the Lives of Animals, One Animal and One Litter at a Time," Mary Cervini said.

"One of the primary ways to Improve the Lives of Animals is to stop them from being born in the first place; therefore, over time CPPI refocused 100% of our time and money to spay/neuter," she said. "While the success of a community spay/neuter program takes many years to see, it is measured by the following: (1) fewer animals coming into the Shelter, (2) fewer animals abandoned/discarded in the community, (3) fewer calls to Animal Control for stray and neglected animals and (4) fewer animals euthanized at local shelters."

Preventing the birth of animals is much less expensive than building brick and mortar shelters to house all the unwanted animals, she pointed out. But since last fall the Cervinis had seen the funding dry up.

"In the last three years, the grants CPPI has depended on to fund our County spay/neuter programs have been on a steady decline," Cervini said. "While CPPI has been fortunate to have a solid base of private donors since 2005 and added new donors year-to-year, we are not able to fund our $250,000 annual spay/neuter budget without grants. CPPI remains a 100% volunteer non profit, so all money we raise through grants and donations is used to pay for spay/neuter surgeries/vaccinations."

Over the past 12 years, CPPI has subsidized 26,195 spay/neuter surgeries completed, preventing the birth of an estimated 576,290 animals. "While these surgeries cost CPPI $1,712,197, they had a huge impact on our community," Cervini said. "At one time, 4,449 animals came into the Henderson County Animal Shelter and 3,348 were euthanized (80.6%). At the close of 2016, 2,180 animals came into HCAS and 763 were euthanized (35.1%). With 51.1% fewer coming into the shelter today, shelter staff can spend more positive time in finding homes for animals vs. euthanizing them to make room for new ones coming in.

CPPI plans to issue its last voucher on March 31.

After that families wanting to spay/neuter their pets may contact:

• Henderson County Animal Shelter. The Shelter sends animals to the Asheville Humane Alliance Spay/Neuter Clinic 2-3 times per week for surgery. 697 4723
• Blue Ridge Humane Society. They send animals to the Asheville Humane Alliance Spay/Neuter Clinic once a month. 685-7107
• Friends to Ferals. They work with cats only and send them to the Asheville Humane Alliance Spay/Neuter Clinic several times during the week. 505-6737.