PITTSBURGH — The City of Pittsburgh and Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh have launched a new spay and neuter program.
The new program was announced on Tuesday.
City officials said applications will be split into two categories: one for pet cats and dogs and one for community cats.
The City of Pittsburgh’s no-cost spay and neuter program was paused in February 2024.
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The pause was the result of an evaluation of the program. At the time, the city said the services were being used in “inappropriate ways, disingenuous to the spirit of the program.”
“The Department of Public Safety has been diligently working to restructure and expand the City’s spay and neuter program in an effort to best serve Pittsburgh’s residents and animal populations,” said Lee Schmidt, director of Public Safety. “We are thankful for the patience of Pittsburghers as we’ve redeveloped this program over the last year and are excited to begin processing applications for residents.”
Pittsburgh residents can apply to have a total of two pets spayed or neutered in a calendar year but cannot exceed a total of five pets in five years. Dogs and cats will have different requirements to be eligible for the program.
Anyone applying to have a community cat treated must be a registered trapper.
Trappers must live within the Pittsburgh city limits and can only trap feral cats within city limits. Those animals must then be re-released into the same area or into another colony within the city.
Community cats caught with the intention of being adopted or fostered cannot be spayed or neutered through the new city program.
An ongoing open application will allow trappers to submit applications for up to 30 cats per year. More can be submitted on a case-by-case basis.
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