Most of us have pets and they're beloved members of our families. But the sheer number of these four-legged friends has been alarmingly large for several years, and the Spay and Neuter Island Pets, or "SNIP" clinic is doing its part to help. 

The Guam Animals In Need's SNIP clinic continues to be bustling, currently stationed centrally in Sinajana, as scores of neighbors responsibly spay and neuter dogs and cats, helping curb the ongoing overpopulation issue. Mayors estimated a few years ago that as many as 60,000 furry friends were roaming our streets. It's a known problem the clinic's team is working on.

Stephanie Walker with GAIN says the traffic to the clinic has been constant, telling KUAM News, "We're actually essentially completely booked for the rest of the clinic, which is awesome. I think we maybe only have a few slots left; we're estimating about 35 to 40 surgeries a day, so we're getting a lot of people in, which is great. And that's the reason why we do what we do and put in all the effort!"

She added the split between species is, "Probably more cats, but of them, the female population is really high.  So we've been getting really high numbers of female dogs and really high numbers of female cats. A lot of it, I think, is to just trying to avoid those unwanted litters."

Walker adds that the majority of people dropping off animals are locals, with the dominant breed for both canines and felines being boonies, noting, "It's also been kind of a fair mix of owned animals, but also people doing that extra work to get strays brought in and fixed to try to decrease those litter numbers."

The cost is minimal and the recovery time for your pets is about a week. But the total value you bring to our island's well-being is substantially higher. Walker said, "All surgeries are $50, and then we do have a really amazing sponsorship through SPCC - if you do present your SNAP or EBT card, that surgery fee is waived.

"You drop off in the morning, they get their surgery during the day, you pick them up later in the afternoon!"

The SNIP clinic will be available in Sinajana at the mayor's office until January 29, after which the operation returns to Yigo at GAIN's Animal Shelter.