The Southwest Community has a strong presence of groups willing to collaborate to make Southwest Detroit a secure, healthy place for their kids to grow up. That passion is spreading beyond the borders of working streetlights and providing structured youth activities. Elisandra Figueroa, the president and founder of Detroit Dog Movement, worked to unite groups like Detroit Southwest Pride, Urban Neighborhood Initiative, Congress of Communities, CHAINED, Saving ACE, Dog Aide 2012 and All About Animals Rescue to come together to promote responsible pet ownership in an effort to reduce the dangers that stray and free roaming dogs pose.

“We have too many dogs, plain and simple”, Figueroa says. “The majority of dogs aren’t fixed so not only are they breeding, but they have the urge to roam and are getting lost. Males smell a female in heat and next thing you know your dogs a mile away, lost. The kids are scared, the dogs are scared; it’s a safety issue affecting the whole community. Too many dogs end up in shelters and are euthanized. We can prevent all of this through spay and neuter.”

All About Animals Rescue based in Warren, is the largest high volume, low cost spay neuter clinic in Michigan. They’ve worked with Figueroa for nearly a year and when they purchased their new mobile on-board spay/neuter surgery vehicle, one of only three vans in the state, Figueroa knew she wanted her community to benefit. Figueroa and Jessica Ramirez, a volunteer with Detroit Dog Movement, brought the community organizations together for an introductory meeting and now history is being made in Southwest Detroit. The surgical van will hold multiple spay days throughout the year in Southwest touching the lives of pet owners who can’t or won’t take their pets to a clinic.

To kick off the mission of no more homeless pets, All About Animals is sterilizing cats, Pit Bulls and Pit Mixes for free during the mobile van’s first week of operation, April 17 through April 21. The event is hosted by Azteca Supermercado, 2411 Central Detroit, MI 48209. Pet owners can schedule surgery by calling All About Animals at 586-879-1745.

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