Alabaster and Montevallo residents recently helped the Birmingham-based Spay and Neuter Clinic break a longstanding record while helping animals throughout Shelby County.

On July 26, clinic veterinarians Dr. Rhonda Buxton, Dr. Kelly Johnson and Dr. Beth Barnett spayed and neutered 89 dogs and cats, breaking the clinic’s record for single-day surgeries.

The event came less than a month after the clinic began offering free spay and neuter surgeries to feral and outdoor cats in Alabaster. The clinic has also been offering the program to Montevallo residents for several months.

Through the program, Alabaster residents can drop off feral or outdoor cats each Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Alabaster City Hall Annex parking lot on First Street Northwest.

Clinic employees then transport the cats to the Birmingham clinic to be spayed or neutered, receive their rabies vaccinations, receive free flea and worm treatments, get microchipped and have their ears tipped for free.

Soon after the clinic began offering the Alabaster program, clinic employees began seeing a large increase in the number of surgeries it was performing, said clinic Marketing Coordinator Danielle Pelt.

Pelt said the Alabaster and Montevallo services played a key role in helping the clinic break its single-day spay and neuter record.

“We started doing it in Montevallo and Alabaster because we noticed that there were a lot of stray animals in those cities,” Pelt said. “We have had a very high volume of cats brought in since those two programs began.

“We get cats in every day through that program,” Pelt added. “And every day we get them, it helps us to reach our goals of performing more surgeries and cutting down on the stray population.”

The clinic has performed more than 23,000 spay and neuter surgeries on cats and dogs throughout the Birmingham metropolitan area since 2008, but reaching 89 surgeries in one day was a milestone achievement for the clinic, said clinic Director of Surgical Operations Carolyn Tittle.

“Thanks to the performance of our staff, all surgeries went smoothly and safely,” Tittle said of the record-breaking day. “I’m very proud of all the staff and everyone involved.”

Without the Alabaster and Montevallo cat pickup services, the clinic would have had a difficult time breaking the

record, Pelt said.

“We have really had a major increase in the number of animals we’ve seen since we began the programs in Alabaster and Montevallo,” Pelt said.