Check out this van:

Isn't it snazzy?

This van is our Animal Birth Control (ABC) mobile spay-and-neuter clinic. And do you know what makes it even snazzier? It's just one of the low- to no-cost mobile veterinary clinics that we operate. Our other one, SNIP (Spay/Neuter Immediately, Please!), performed our 50,000th sterilization surgery today in Hampton Roads. And, if you add in all the other surgeries that we pay private vet clinics to perform, that means that way more than 50,000 animals have benefited from the free and low-cost services that we offer inside that van. It's seen more surgeries than my car has miles!

But it's not just the van. You need people to operate on patients. Our SNIP staff members are out of bed early, every day of the week, trying to make a dent in the animal overpopulation crisis, and they are doing a great job. By performing those 50,000 surgeries, they have saved 116,660 puppies and kittens from being born into a world that would otherwise cast them away.

Take a look at just a few of the lives they have affected:

Cheyenne was our clinic's lucky 50,000th patient.

Chyna looks a little sleepy after her surgery.

Troy's entire family was excited to have SNIP visit.

Aww, Buddy's guardian had to prop his head up for his picture.

We are super-proud of our SNIP staffers, and I hope you'll leave a comment congratulating them for all their hard work.

Posted by Shawna Flavell

We hope you all had a happy and safe Halloween! Yeah, we saw you rockin' those Trollsen and Colonel masks! We were knee-deep in mischief ourselves, but don't worry, it was all treat and no trick. PETA's "Spay and Neuter Immediately Please!" mobile clinic (aka the SNIP-mobile) spent the whole spooky day spaying and neutering dozens of black cats from the Hampton Roads area. So gosh darn cute! Yes, even witches know that cats need to be altered to live full and hauntingly happy lives.

On hand was our VIP 8-year-old PETA Kids representative, Skyler, who happily donned a black kitty costume and handed out treats to all.

A big nod goes out to the staff members aboard the mobile clinic who over the years have done an awesome job preventing the births of hundreds of thousands of unwanted kittens. It's a truly frightening statistic that one unspayed female cat can produce 36 cats in just one and a half years!

Thank you, thank you, SNIP crew! You're all wonderful!

Posted by Jennifer Cierlitsky

OK, I'll admit it—Mr. Peanut looked pretty sharp (who doesn't look good in a monocle?), but the real stars of last month's annual Virginia Peanut Festival parade were PETA's new mobile Animal Birth Control Clinic and the plucky 'pups' who walked alongside it. They were there to spread the word about the importance of spaying and neutering animal companions and to offer the services of our low- to no-cost clinic to the thousands of low-income families in attendance. The peanut-loving people of Emporia swarmed us to sign up their dogs and cats to be sterilized. Participating in a nutty parade (both figuratively and literally nutty) and doing something to stop thousands of unwanted puppies and kittens from being born—I'd say that's a pretty sweet way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Posted by Amy Elizabeth

OK, I don't want to brag, but ... ah, heck! If spaying and neutering were an Olympic event (if synchronizing swimming got in, why not?), our SNIP staff would be at the podium holding their gold medals! Move over, Morgan Hamm—you may know a thing or two about the pommel horse, but could you prevent the births of thousands of unwanted cats? We didn't think so.

Yesterday, PETA's SNIPmobile hit a grand slam for homeless cats—completing an outstanding 30 spays/neuters done completely free of charge! These little kings of the urban jungle had the entire day devoted just to their well-being and happiness. And you know what, they were feral—all of 'em.

The SNIPmobile

We did the free sterilizations, although we don't believe most feral cats should be out there at all—in danger, unsocialized, and fearful of humans—because ferals often have to be the James Bonds of the kitty world just to duck and dive past the slew of dangers present in their environment.

Ferals are at risk of being picked up by bunchers for use in disgusting laboratory experiments—in addition to facing the risks posed by cars, extreme weather, diseases such as feline AIDS and feline leukemia, and other animals. And if that's not enough mud to trek through, there's the food situation. Keep multiplying the overwhelming number of ferals born in a colony each year, consider the amount of food available, do the math, and, well ... you get the picture. We did it, however, because cats are better off out there not reproducing than out there having kitties under the pilings.

Until we can do what Switzerland did and make it mandatory for people who want a cat or dog to pass a responsibility test, preventing future litters of kittens—and we're talkin' all kittens here, not just ferals—spaying and neutering is the key way to gain control of the overpopulation nightmare in this country and better protect these animals from harm.

Feral cats certainly don't live the life of champions. But thanks to the compassionate souls working countless hours on our mobile clinic and the people who looked out for them and took them back and forth, these ferals have a few less worries on their plate.

Posted by Jennifer Cierlitsky