Our Mentorship Program:
If you are in WA state, we have a hands on mentorship program that might be right for you. The idea behind the mentorship program is that if we can help other organizations develop their own sustainable spay neuter clinics, we can extend our reach and resources to help many more cats.
Ideally, we work with an organization to create a spay neuter program that will be sustainable for them once FCSNP is no longer on site. So, we help build a program that they have the capacity to run on their own. This could be anything from monthly MASH style clinics to a brick and mortar spay neuter clinic open multiple days a week.
We start by figuring out what type of program they have the capacity for and then make an agreement about how we will go from FCSNP helping with everything to slowly handing over the reins to the local organization.
If you are building a clinic from scratch
If you are building a clinic from scratch FCSNP will start by running the clinics and having you pair up a local employee or volunteer with each FCSNP staff member to learn how to run each part of the clinic. Next, the FCSNP staff member will work side by side with the local employee/volunteer to complete the clinic duties. Finally, the FCSNP staff member will stand by while the local person completes the tasks from start to finish. At this point, FCSNP starts sending a skeleton crew to jump in if needed but we phase out over time. This is slightly oversimplified but that is the general idea of how the clinics progress over time.
If you already have a program established
If you already have part of a program established e.g. you already have a building or you hold clinics once a month and want to increase to once a week or anything inbetween, we can work with you to provide the appropriate amount of mentorship and assistance to see your clinic succeed. We have expertise in surgical techniques, equipment purchasing, technician training, etc. and we want to share it to help more cats.
Video:
Watch a video about our Mentorship Program
Is our Mentorship Program right for you?
Some questions to consider for potential mentorship organizations:
Do you have a volunteer base or paid staff that believe in the mission of spay neuter and are willing to work to make a program a reality?
Do you have a building (could be yours or someplace you plan to rent such as a community center, class room, or other facility) that you have permission to use for the purpose of a spay neuter clinic?
Can you commit to working with FCSNP over about a year (if from scratch) to get the clinic up and running?
Do you have any equipment and supplies or funding to purchase these items?
Do you have general funding for this program?
What type of clinic do you think will work: occasional MASH style or consistent brick and mortar type clinic? (FYI for best impact on overpopulation consistent clinics are superior to MASH)
Do you ultimately plan to serve cats only or dogs and cats?
Do you plan to serve the public or only your shelter/rescue animals?
Do you have a veterinarian willing to work with you to do surgery and/or hold a DEA license? Or can you afford to hire one?
Do you have any licensed techs in the area willing to work with you or can you afford to hire one?
How are you perceived/are you supported by the local veterinary community?
Is anyone else in the area doing HQHVSN?
What evidence do you have of the need for HQHVSN in your community?
If you think that our Mentorship Program may be right for your organization, please email questions@feralcatproject.org with your answers to the above questions and the subject “Mentorship.”