09/29/2026
Dear friends:
Public statements have been made over the past few weeks regarding the low cost spay neuter program at Castaway. A clarification is in order.
1. We perform spays and neuters on dogs and cats at below our cost for people in need. We help people with low incomes, tough times, or people with plenty of money that want to help manage pet overpopulation.
2. The program is not subsidized by either donations or grant funding. The client may be an individual or 501(c)3 or anyone else - everyone pays the same. Some people have tried to compare us to other programs that charge much less. We are fully internally funded. Comparing us to subsidized programs is futile unless you know how much those service providers charge the grant or the 501(c)3 that funds them. Comparing our list price to theirs is inaccurate.
3. We have not made flyers or publicly posted our prices. That has not been in the nature of the program. It is a community oriented and relationship based service. Our fees run between $60 and $135 depending on the service. These price points help people with one or two animals stay in the community and are cheaper than if they had to drive back and forth to Montgomery for slightly less expensive services. The idea that we are hiding something by not making a big deal of these prices is silly.
4. We are not intending to solve pet overpoputlation. We are simply doing the little that we can. We have limited scale and are not trying to extend it beyond what we have. We are more focused on doing an excellent job, even if the client does not select our most premium service. We are not trying to compete for government or other organizational grants.
5. We have and will participate in voucher programs from any program that our clients choose, if we meet the program's requirements.
6. There is no current wait for low cost services, and it has been rare for there to be a wait for the past 18 months. We are usually able to schedule within 5 business days and often within 2 days.
6. I believe that if public funds are used for spaying and neutering animals, need verification should be required of the program administration and all service providers in the area should have equal access to meet the program requirements and to use those public funds to help their clients.
I am proud of Castaway and our team's commitment to helping people and their animals. Care has become expensive and we are doing what we can to push back against what seem to be some pretty big changes in our industry.
Regards,
Dr. Randy
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