Veterinarian honored for work with animals

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - On any given day at any given location in the valley, you will find Dr. Kit Slocum hard at work caring for animals. "I have been a veterinarian for 28 years but have been doing low cost spay and neuter for the past four years and we travel throughout Maricopa county," she says.

Surgeries take place inside Dr. Kit's mobile surgical unit Free Spay and Neuter. "Every time you spay an animal, it makes such a big impact on not having unwanted puppies and kittens born and that's the bottom line is that they don't have enough homes to go around."

Dr. Kit is supported by the voucher program. Her goal is to prevent animal euthanasia, an effort that has many calling Dr. Kit a hero. "Dr. Kit is our human hero this year," says Leanna Taylor, executive director of Friends of Animal Care and Control. "She is our 2016 human hero for her work in under served communities and helping low income pet owners spay and neuter their animals."

Dr. Kit performed 6,000 surgeries last year, helping the non-profit further complete its mission. They focus on low income and under-served communities where the majority of our pet over population originates. On this particular day, Dr. Kit and her staff completed 40 surgeries.

She says she will continue as long as funding enables her to do so. "We want people to come and get their animals spayed and neutered. We want them to know about the voucher program and know that it's available and that they can come have it done."

Friends of Animal Care and Control will be honoring Dr. Kit at the Hero Awards at the Omni Montelucia in Paradise Valley on February 27th. Tickets are still available. you go to az friendsofanimals.org for information or click on the Seen on TV tab on our website.