Jaclyn Fulop, the First Lady of Jersey City, helped fundraise over $120,000 towards bringing the first low-cost spay and neuter clinic to Hudson County.Â
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“Hudson County is a county, urban and diverse and densely populated and beautiful county, as we all know because we call it home. But nearly 1/5th of the county lives below the poverty line,” began Assemblyman Raj Mukherji (D-33), the emcee of the event.
“But that doesn’t mean they don’t share beautiful memories with pets like any other family should.”
Over 200 people came out to Corgi Spirits at the Jersey City Distillery to support the cause, spearheaded by Jacklyn Fulop – who also runs the Exchange Physical Therapy Group.
“Before tonight, there has been no low-cost spay or neuter program in all of Hudson County … with 16 percent of our residents living below the poverty line as Raj said, this leads our residents simply not having the financial resources to be able to afford to spay and neuter pets,” explained Fulop.
The fundraiser was initially supposed to be held in March, but got postponed due to snow, but that ended up being a tremendous boost for the cause: the original goal was just $10,000, but EPTG ended up writing a $120,293 check to Liberty Humane Society last night.
“Spay neuter is not the sexiest thing you can talk about, in fact, it’s probably the least sexy thing that you can talk about, but it’s one that is the most important for the well-being of animals and the health of populations as a whole,” added LHS Executive Director Irene Borngraeber.
She further stated that this problem has lasted for so long due to a lack of institutional support, but things are looking positive from here on out: a mobile surgery veterinary truck is set to be delivered to LHS tomorrow.
Once the program is up and running, spay and neuter will cost $10 for outdoor cats and big dogs in municipalities where LHS is the animal control services provider.
