Programs and Services
SPCA Wake offers a wide range of programs and services to help pets and the people who care for them.
Whether you’re looking for affordable veterinary care, spay/neuter services, pet food assistance, behavior support, community cat resources, or guidance through another pet-related challenge, we’re here to help.
Many of these programs are designed to solve problems before they lead to a pet entering a shelter. Our goal is to help keep pets with the people who love them, reduce pet overpopulation and shelter crowding, and preserve shelter resources for the most vulnerable pets who truly have nowhere else to go. This prevention-focused approach is a core part of our mission to create a more humane community.
Not sure where to start?
SPCA Wake’s Pet Helpline connects you with a knowledgeable person who can talk through your situation, offer personalized resources and guidance, and help you find the right next step. In 2025, the Helpline provided assistance to 7,371 requests for help with pet behavior, rehoming, veterinary care, food/supplies, and community cat support.
Affordable Vet Care
Saving Lives Spay/Neuter Clinic
Low-cost spay/neuter surgery helps make essential care more accessible while preventing unwanted litters and reducing pressure on local shelters. Reduced-cost vaccines, microchips, testing, and other services are also available to pets undergoing spay/neuter surgery. Since opening in 2009, the clinic has spayed or neutered more than 87,000 animals.
Spay/Neuter Vouchers
SPCA Wake partners with more than a dozen local veterinary clinics to make spay/neuter surgery more affordable for pet owners throughout the community. Each year, the program helps approximately 2,000 families access this important preventive care, reducing unplanned litters, supporting healthier pets, and helping ease pressure on already-crowded animal shelters.
Wellness Clinics
Our low-cost vaccine and microchip clinics bring essential preventive care directly into the community, with vaccines, microchips, collars, and ID tags available for $10 and under. By making basic care more accessible, these clinics help keep pets in our community healthy, and provides an identification safety net that helps more lost pets reunite with their families.
Keeping Pets With the People Who Love Them
Pet Food Assistance
Sometimes a helping hand during hard times can mean the difference between keeping or having to give up a beloved pet. SPCA Wake provides free pet food and supplies to help pet owners facing hardship in order to keep pets healthy, cared for, and at home with the people who love them.
Pet Behavior Support
SPCA Wake provides a free behavior resource library and one-on-one guidance to help pet owners address common challenges, strengthen the human-animal bond, and resolve behavior concerns that commonly lead to pets being surrendered to shelters.
Pet Helpline
Our free Pet Helpline offers personalized help and expert guidance from a real person for a wide variety of pet-related needs. The Pet Helpline can help you navigate local resources, troubleshoot challenging situations, and connect you with SPCA Wake programs for your specific situation.
Helping Pets Stay Out of Shelters
Pet Rehoming & Surrender Support
If you can no longer keep your pet, SPCA Wake can help you explore options that focus on your pet's safety and well-being, avoiding the risk of euthanasia in the shelter system and prioritizing a safe transition into a new home.
Our Surrender & Rehoming Guide can help you identify the best pathways for your situation, whether you need to emergency surrender or have more time to explore the safest options.
Community Cats & TNVR
Cats and kittens are the most likely to be euthanized in North Carolina shelters due to the sheer volume of these populations in our community – much of which is due to the uncontrolled breeding of outdoor cats.
SPCA Wake helps reduce feline overpopulation by helping community members care for and manage outdoor cats. This multi-faceted program includes low-cost spay/neuter, TNVR guidance, humane trap rentals, food assistance, and education for caretakers of all experience levels.
Our Philosophy: Support the Other End of the Leash
Adoption is only one part of saving animal lives. Many times, the best way to help animals is by helping the people who love them. When pet caretakers are supported, we can make meaningful progress tackling the root causes that lead to shelter crowding and pets being separated from their families.
Affordable veterinary care reduces pet overpopulation and keeps owned pets healthy. Pet food and behavior support keep families intact when obstacles arise. Empowering our community better manage outdoor cats results in more humane outcomes both in and out of the shelter.
These programs and services complement our rescue and adoption efforts by ensuring more pets are safe and supported, both in and out of the shelter system.
87,546
Pets Spayed/Neutered
through the Saving Lives Spay/Neuter Clinic since its opening in 2009.
6,339
Pets Vaccinated/Microchipped
at pop-up Wellness Clinics since the program launched in 2018.
3,901
Community Cats Sterilized
at low or no cost to caretakers since 2019.
257,154
Pet Meals Provided
to pet owners and partner agencies in 2025.
Additional Support for Pet Owners
Pet Loss Support Group
A free monthly support group led by a Pet Chaplain, offering a compassionate space to share stories, process grief, and connect with others who understand the loss of a beloved pet.
Military Benefits
Special adoption and service benefits are available to active-duty military members and veterans as part of SPCA Wake’s commitment to supporting military families and their pets.
Ask the Pet Helpline
Speak to a real person who can talk you through your specific situation and offer personalized guidance to answer questions, recommend local resources, and connect you with the SPCA Wake programs that can help.