Rescue Ranch hopes to bring affordable spay and neuter clinic to Perry

PERRY — A well known spay and neuter clinic is expanding to Perry. However, the opening is still unknown. The clinic’s president and founder said she is hoping to open this fall at 600 Valley Drive. 

The Rescue Ranch is based out of McRae-Helena and is involved in animal rescues, spay and neuter programs, education and wildlife conservation. In 2025, the Rescue Ranch did over 4,000 spay and neuters and have done over 40,000 since their creation. 

According to their website, the clinic is a 510(c)3 non-profit and was founded in 2003 by Barbara Bruigom. 

As a non-profit, Bruigom was able to get 10 vets to spay and neuter animals in over 40 counties to start. She received funds from an anonymous donor along with PetSmart and PetCo. The Rescue Ranch then grew to now serve 81 counties including Houston. 

Bruigom shared that donors out of Atlanta asked her to open up a clinic in Perry due to the corridor being neglected. The Rescue Ranch bought the building in Perry in January 2025. She said she couldn’t have asked for a better location being off Interstate 75 and Highway 341. 

The clinic may not have concrete hours due to the uncertainty of when vets are available. The Rescue Ranch currently has over 400 animals on the waitlist to be spayed or neutered. 

Bruigom said in an interview that there are very few affordable spay and neuter clinics. She said most of the veterinarians in Perry are all corporate owned. 

“A cat neuter right now through a corporation can run anywhere from $300 to $500,” she said. 

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the clinic will have to raise prices for the surgeries, but she said it is still cheaper than everywhere else. 

Bruigom said male cats are $35, females are $60 while any puppies under six months is also $60. After six months, male dogs are $75 and females are $125. 

“We’re still pretty much the lowest price in town,” she said. 

Bruigom said there are many benefits of spaying and neutering. One being the reduced cost in the long term by them not having litter after litter. Another benefit she mentioned is overall community health. 

“It doesn’t hurt the animal,” she said. “If you neuter a dog, they’re not going to get testicular cancer when they’re older.” 

Less euthanization is also a big factor in spaying and neutering animals. Bruigom said euthanizing animals can physiologically drain veterinarians. 

Some may have concerns about the surgery in general. Under the Rescue Ranch’s “high quality, high volume spay/neuter”, only 14 out of the over 40,000 animals they have spayed or neutered have passed away during the surgery. Bruigom said those animals were either elderly dogs who had heartworms and cats with heart issues. 

Also ,three out of every one hundred animals may be allergic to the glue they use on the sutures after surgery. The Rescue Ranch also tattoos the animals to let the community know they are spayed/neutered. 

“If they show up at animal control or somewhere else, if you look at their [dogs] belly and see a green line, that means they’re spayed or neutered,” she said. “With cats, you tip the left ear.” 

To learn more about the Rescue Ranch, go to therescueranch.org.