Contra Costa County pet owners now have a more affordable way to get their dog or cat spayed or neutered. Thanks to a collaboration between local animal advocates and a mobile clinic founder, a spay and neuter service will be occasionally offered at two shelters in Richmond and Martinez.
After making its debut in Richmond and Martinez earlier this month, it will return to Martinez in May, organizers said. Appointments are required as spots are limited.
Melanie Scherer, a former sales and marketing professional, founded SNIP in Monterey County in 2016 with the goal of spaying and neutering as many animals as possible. She expanded to Solano, Yolo, and Sacramento counties (and made stops in other Bay Area locations) before Contra Costa County animal advocates clamored to bring SNIP here.
“I’ve been asked for [a Snip Bus in] Contra Costa for the last three years, if not more,” Scherer told Richmondside.
Low-cost pet spay/neuter service
What: The nonprofit Spay and Neuter Initiative Project (SNIP) will occasionally visit Contra Costa County shelters.
When: The next available SNIP appointments will be at Contra Costa Animal Services in Martinez on May 23 and May 24. To book a spot, call or text 925-425-8972.
Cost: $165-$450 for dogs, depending on size; $135 for cats.
Their first Richmond clinics was were held over two days at Milo Foundation, a rescue in Point Richmond. Working inside a small trailer towed by a SNIP-branded truck, a Monterey County vet and their team fixed 84 animals. They also visited the Contra Costa Animal Services’ Martinez shelter and treated 27 animals.
In a show of just how in demand SNIP’s services are, there was a long line of pet owners in Milo’s parking lot, decorated with a balloon arch, starting at 8 a.m. March 19. Most were already familiar with Milo, which let them know about SNIP.
Tenzin Topchen of El Sobrante had the creative idea of putting his two cats, Mocha and Latte, in a wearable cat carrierr, where every once in a while they would paw at the hard, see-through shell.
“Last time, me and my daughter came here, we found out about this place [Milo] online, and then when we came in, we saw these two brothers, so (it was) just love at first sight.”
Affordability was a big draw, with some coming from nearby cities. Juanita Rubio of Mill Valley wanted to neuter her dog Remy. Without SNIP, she would have paid considerably more.
“His [Remy’s] regular vet was offering, or they quoted, about $1,300 to $1,600, which is completely out of our reach right now. So this is definitely very helpful.”
SNIP is charging $165 to $450 for dogs and $135 for cats.
Why spay or neuter your pets?
Why is it so important to spay and neuter? Simply put, spaying and neutering helps save animals’ lives. Nicole Bonfiglio, head of animal operations at Milo, told Richmondside that Milo took in 557 cats and 1,406 dogs in 2025, rescuing many from animal shelters with high euthanasia rates — proof that the animal overpopulation crisis is still very much a problem in Contra Costa County.
“There are a lot of people that are unaware of what a big crisis we’re in right now. There are hundreds of animals being euthanized every day and people don’t know that — and I think, the more people that knew that, the more people would help. And what’s going to start with controlling that pet overpopulation crisis is spay and neuter,” Bonfiglio said.
Richmondside has previously covered what can happen to unwanted, abandoned or neglected pets, and animal shelter overcrowding is a big factor in rising euthanasia rates. At Contra Costa County Animal Services, total euthanasias have increased almost 33% since 2022.
“Spay and neuter is so very important, and a lot of people don’t see the importance of it — but that is what’s gonna help us control this pet overpopulation crisis and help save lives in the end,” Bonfiglio said.
Ross animal advocate kicked off SNIP fundraising for Milo
SNIP services have been in high demand in Solano, Yolo and Sacramento counties, with SNIP saying it has fixed nearly 128,000 animals.
When asked what prompted an expansion to Contra Costa County, Scherer said, “I never pick the destination. It’s always people who are massively reaching out for a SNIP vehicle.”
It’s also a matter of cost, as funds must be raised to support the service. One person who helped bring the service to Milo was Susan Kay, a retiree living in Ross.
Amongst the many things that any mobile spay/neuter service has to worry about, Kay told Richmondside, is the cost of equipment and medicines, not to mention vehicle maintenance.
“A lot of rescues have started their own spay/neuter buses that have not succeeded, and that’s because it’s hard enough to run a rescue. I mean, rescues run by the seat of their pants, you know?” she said.
A self-described animal lover, Kay has taken on multiple projects related to animal care throughout her life — one of the most notable being going to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to rescue animals after the flooding. Though she lives in Marin County, she — and many local animal advocates who were already reaching out to Scherer — had wanted to bring low cost spay and neutering services to Contra Costa County for quite some time to help animal rescues struggling with the financial burden.
One of Kay’s friends happens to be Lynne Tingle, director of the Milo Foundation. Sensing the urgency for Milo, Kay stepped forward to help.
“I said, ‘I’m just gonna do it, you know. I don’t have a project right now, and I’m just gonna buckle down,’ ” Kay said.
Kay was drawn to Scherer and SNIP because of Scherer’s business experience. She wanted to find a nonprofit that was run efficiently.
“Melanie [Scherer] is both. She’s a nonprofit, and she runs a very tight business. She’s a professional,” Kay said.
From setting up a fundraiser on Giving Grid to making her own cards and flyers for the campaign, Kay went out of her way to spread the word as did the Milo Foundation, telling its clients seeking affordable spay and neuter services that they could contribute to the campaign. After making a sizable donation to kick things off, Kay and the group eventually raised $265,000.
Eventually SNIP is hoping to provide more medical services in Contra Costa, including x-rays, ultrasounds and dental care. For now though, Scherer told Richmondside, it’s just doing spaying and neutering, as well as giving vaccines.
“We just want to make sure things are running perfectly for high-volume spay and neuter,” she said.
She’s grateful for the support of Contra Costa County residents. From spreading the word about SNIP services to people offering safe places to park the clinic, “The outreach and support has been so wonderful,” she said. “And I wish I had that all the time.”
Did I read that right? People are coming from one of the wealthiest cities in the Bay Area, Mill Valley, to the extremely low income cities where we are in a major crisis of animal overpopulation and abuse to take advantage of spay costs? How does this not affect our citizens that have been waiting for many months to fix their animals and winding up with hundreds more unwanted offspring, especially feral cats. It is chasing the tail, literally.