What does a "free" spay surgery really cost?

PETA offers free spays and neuters in low-income neighborhoods around Headquarters. Over 6,000 a year!! This means animals that would breed, and add more homeless animals to the world, are sterilized. We also check them for fleas, ticks and heartworm, any signs of abuse (and we get mean when we find any!), adequate food and water, etc. This is free to people who can’t afford it, but it’s not free for us!

Here are some examples of what PETA pays to helps animals…that means what you and your donors pay to help animals. We exist on donations. None of this life-saving work would happen without people generously donating!


-> $265 provides one snug dog house filled with warm, dry straw for an outside dog.

-> $12,000 pays for one year’s worth of spay/neuter surgery packs.

-> $2,500 pays for one desperately needed anesthesia machine for the SNIP van (Spay Neuter Immediately Please).

-> A minimum of $5,000 a year for medications that ease pain and stop infections.

-> $272,000 annually to operate one of the SNIP vans!

-> $17,000 for the rescue van our Community Animal Project staff use to pick up and help lose, abandoned and injured animals (both domestic and wildlife).

-> It costs us $70,000 a year to pay for one brave anti-cruelty case worker and his/her support, veterinary help, and animal care expenses (the case worker only makes $30,000 of that 70k).

-> We pay $20,000 a year just to spay/neuter pit bulls (between 350-400 a year).

Thank you so much for making all this work happen!

Alex