Deputy Sheriff Tommy Nations, Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin, GVMA President Mike Younker, and State Veterinarian Dr. Lee Myers show the new Spay/Neuter Plate that will fund the continuation of the state's sterilization program. A state program for the sterilization of dogs and cats has now been reinstated with funding to come from the sale of new automobile license plates. Last week, Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin and Georgia Veterinary Medical Association President, Dr. Mike Younker, hosted a dog sterilization procedure to alert the public that the hugely successful program was reinstated.

The program had been on a fourmonth hiatus after public demand for surgical procedures exceeded donated dollars in the program.

The procedure was performed on seven-month-old Lucie, a Doberman mix, adopted by Fayette County Deputy Sheriff Tommy Nations after being designated a stray animal.

"We love our Lucie and we support the spay and neuter program," Nations said. "We just hope that the program get can greater support and more animals can be protected."

The procedure was performed by Younker at his Lafayette Center Animal Hospital, Fayetteville. All veterinarians in this independent spay and neuter program are allowed to perform three procedures monthly to allow greater participation of animal doctors and pet own- ers statewide.

For the past three years specialty license plates have been sold to fund

the dog and cat surgical procedures that operates without state funds. Today, a new license plate with a state income tax check-off for the 2006 tax year is expected to fund the spay and neuter program well into the future.

"Veterinarians across the state believe in the program," says Younker. "The public wants spay and neuter assistance and that can be achieved by just purchasing a license plate. This program meets a need and helps in the control of unwanted animals."

Irvin agrees by saying, "It's important that we decrease of the number of unwanted dogs and cats in our state. Our spay/neuter program that is supported entirely through the sale of license plates has been tried, tested and proven to be effective and successful. We want to grow this program so that we can support anyone who wants to get their pet spay or neutered."

Georgians interested in purchasing the specialty spay and neuter license tag can pay a one-time fee of $25 at their local county motor vehicle registration office. Persons with old tags can return them to their tag office for the new specialty plate. Since January 2006, more than 21,000 spay/neuter license plates have been issued, netting more than $450,000 to the sterilization program.