Shell Knob woman takes action to get area pets spayed, neutered

By Sheila Harris sheilaharrisads@gmail.com

“An ounce of prevention prevents a pound full of puppies and a neighborhood full of strays,” is a motto Donna Mueller stands behind.

Mueller, who volunteered with a humane society in Arizona before moving to Shell Knob in 2014, saw right away that pet over-population was a problem in her new lakeside community.

“It hurts me so badly to see stray dogs running down the highway,” said Mueller, who has four dogs and a cat of her own.

Mueller said when she took in her fourth dog, it was initially against her will.

“My neighbor called me and told me a dog had showed up at her house,:” Mueller said. “She thought it might be one of mine, but it wasn’t. I advertised the dog on Facebook for her, but nobody wanted her, so I ended up taking her home.

“My other dogs accepted her, so I guess it was meant to be.”

Mueller has since made the best of a situation she wasn’t happy with at first. However, acceptance didn’t equate with complacency.

“The fourth dog, who we named Roxie, pushed me over the edge,” Mueller said. “She became the motivation behind my mission to convince people to spay and neuter their pets. I learned, however, that a lot of people want to get their pets spayed or neutered, but they just can’t afford it, so I wanted to provide a way to make the service more accessible.”

After talking to myriad of people, including veterinarians, technicians and volunteers with Haven of The Ozarks, near Exeter, and the Good Shepherd Humane Society in Eureka Springs, Ark., Mueller came up with a plan. Implementing it, however, wasn’t simple for her.

“I’m a respiratory therapist and a behind-the-scenes volunteer with wildlife,” Mueller said. “[I’m] not an organizer of projects.”

As a member of the Board of Directors for Haven of The Ozarks, though, Mueller has connections.

In spite of her so-called inexperience, Mueller has since organized and successfully pulled off two, mobile spay and neuter clinics in Shell Knob during the last six months.

“I learned that, through grants, Good Shepherd Humane Society had acquired a mobile spay and neuter clinic – a large van — from Fido Fixers, a non-profit organization that serves rural communities,” Mueller said. “And, by partnering with Good Shepherd Humane Society, the van could be made available for us (Haven of The Ozarks) to use.”

Mueller said the availability of the mobile clinic was just the first step in putting together the multiple puzzle pieces that followed.

“We had to procure a vet to do the procedures,” she said. “That turned out not to be easy. The vet who performed procedures for Good Shepherd in Eureka Springs wasn’t licensed in Missouri, so the state line presented a problem.

“I also naively had the idea that a vet would be willing to donate their time for a worthy cause, but I learned that it was too much to ask. Spaying and neutering 30-35 animals, one after the other, makes for a grueling day, and some vets didn’t feel like they were up to it.”

Mueller said, through Bissell Pet Foundation’s Fix the Future program, the veterinarians and vet techs are able to receive compensation for their services.

Finding a location and providing the logistics was also a bit complicated, Mueller said.

“It’s not just a matter of pulling the van up in a parking lot and letting the veterinarian take care of business,” Mueller said. “We had to have indoor space, somewhere to check pets in while they waited for their turn, and a place for them to recover from the anesthetic – somewhere where it was okay to have pets in the building all day. Then, we had to provide all the recovery room supplies for the pets and the volunteers to help it run smoothly.”

Mueller said she spent about $1,000 on start-up costs, everything she could think of that a pet might need after surgery: disinfecting products, preschool cots, sheets, towels and even nail clippers.

“We trimmed their nails and cleaned their ears while they were sleeping,” she said.

Vaccinations, too, were provided, and were included in the nominal fee of $25, thanks to a grant from Petco Love, Mueller said.

She said she’s especially grateful to Cole Wakefield, the director at Good Shepherd, for tracking down and compiling all of the grants and programs that made the clinic in Shell Knob possible.

She’s thankful, too, for the people who stepped in and provided lunch for the group. Her husband, Larry Mueller, brought lunch for the first clinic and the ladies from the Eagles Lodge Auxiliary in Shell Knob served lunch for the second clinic.

“I just felt like the whole process was God-led, since I’ve never organized anything like this before,” Mueller said.

The first Fido Fixer clinic was held at Lakeside Christian Church in October, and was booked by word of mouth before an article announcing it even had a chance to run in the paper. The most recent clinic was held the first week in April at the VFW Hall in Shell Knob. It, too, was booked within a matter of days.

“I had lots of help with both clinics, over 20 volunteers,” Mueller said. “Eventually, we’d like to host a clinic every other month. I don’t think we’d have any trouble at all in booking them solid.”