No More Homeless Pets plates aid spay and neuter programs

As you drive around our area, you likely see a wide variety of license plates.

In South Carolina alone, there are ones that help show your love of NASCAR, a firefighter plate to help send people to Fire Academy and even one to show your love of square dancing!

Well, as you can probably already guess, there is one to benefit animals, too.

It is called No More Homeless Pets, and it helps to fund spay and neuter programs for low-income residents of South Carolina.

There is an additional fee of $70 for this plate, which is put into a state grant fund from which clinics can apply for reimbursement for surgeries on pets from very low-income households.

Ask anyone who works or volunteers in the animal welfare field, and they will tell you that affordable spaying and neutering programs are the absolute most important answer to pet overpopulation.

One obvious benefit to this specialty tag is that it helps bring in funds to provide this service for people who otherwise could not afford it.

A secondary benefit that might not be as clear is that by purchasing this tag, you become a "traveling billboard" showing everyone that you are an animal lover, that you understand the problem of pet overpopulation, and that you are doing something positive about it.

When someone is behind you in traffic, seeing that tag might inspire them to get the specialty plate for themselves or even serve as a reminder to them that they need to have their own pet spayed or neutered.

The Aiken SPCA understands the need for affordable and accessible spay and neuter programs first hand. Last year, our waiting list for surgeries grew to more than three weeks.

At the time, we were performing surgeries three days per week. We added a fourth day to help catch up.

Now the waiting list has grown again, as more people are taking advantage of this service.

Starting this week, we will be performing spay and neuter surgeries all five days during the week to meet the demand.

This is a great sign that the community is taking action to have no more homeless pets.

If you want more information about getting your pet spayed or neutered, give us a call at 648-6863 or visit us in person at 401 Wire Road in Aiken.

You can also get more information from our website at www.aikenspca.org.

To learn more about the No More Homeless Pets license plate program, you can visit or call one of the local Department of Motor Vehicle Offices.

The Aiken location is at 1755 Richland Ave. Their phone number is 641-7752.

In North Augusta, you can visit them at 1913 Ascauga Lake Road. Their phone number is 279-6659.