Profile

People Promoting Animal Welfare (PPAW Spay/Neuter Clinic) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit committed to ending the euthanasia of adoptable pets by providing low or no cost spays and neuters in our community. We operate a high-quality, high-volume… People Promoting Animal Welfare (PPAW Spay/Neuter Clinic) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit committed to ending the euthanasia of adoptable pets by providing low or no cost spays and neuters in our community. We operate a high-quality, high-volume spay/neuter clinic in Greenback, Tennessee and are committed to letting no pet go unaltered due to financial limitations. Since PPAW Spay/Neuter Clinic opened, we have sterilized over 100,000 companion animals, preventing countless cats and dogs from being surrendered at local shelters or abandoned. PPAW is female founded by Deborah Searfoss in 1998 and has been largely female run since its inception.
Since the addition of female executive directors Erin Dols, DVM and Kelly Simonian, DVM in 2019, we have worked with area rescues and shelters to offer life saving and quality of life services to help pets be adopted healthy into new homes. And thanks to the support of our generous contributors, we are also able to offer much needed veterinary services to pets in our community beyond spay/neuter who would not otherwise receive the care they need.
In addition to our primary mission of offering affordable spays and neuters to the public, we are committed to addressing stray cat overpopulation in our area. We spay and neuter up to 1000 feral and community cats per year. Free-roaming cats are a significant problem in our community due to lack of financial resources and limited education about the importance of spay/neuter, the consequences of unaltered free-roaming cats, and general pet care needs. Since our clinic opened in 1998, we have made addressing this issue a priority. We have worked with area trappers and caretakers to create an efficient and humane trap/neuter/vaccinate/return program in our immediate area, located in rural Appalachia. We also provide spay/neuter and vaccination services to rescues dedicated to TNR from up to two hours away.