“I feel like this is what God put me on Earth to do,” said Stacey Schumacher, founder and executive director of Texas Coalition for Animal Protection. Since opening in 2002, TCAP has provided affordable wellness care for countless pets in the North Texas area by giving families access to low-cost vaccines on a walk-in basis and affordable pet sterilization services. “There aren’t as many homes as there are pets in the world. Regardless of how many adoptive events you have, we cannot adopt our way out of pet overpopulation,” Stacey explained. “TCAP was designed to provide families access to basic care, so pets don’t end up in an animal shelter.”
Over the past 21 years, this Denton-based nonprofit has expanded to eight different locations across North Texas. In 2009, their Burleson clinic opened, marking their third location. “Burleson’s got a lot of people in the community who care about animals,” Stacy admitted. “You don’t have that in most places.
“We recognize there are times when people’s finances are limited. The last thing we ever want people to do is to decide between feeding their family and caring properly for their pet.” That’s why
TCAP prices rabies vaccines at $5 and full vaccine sets at $25. In addition to their already low-cost services, they hold multiple promotional events throughout the year, which people can be notified about through subscribing to their newsletter or following them on social media.
“Low-cost spay and neuter is step one in ending pet overpopulation,” Stacey said. Due to the high intake at Fort Worth animal shelters, TCAP created a program that gives free pet sterilization for those who live in Fort Worth’s 14 different ZIP codes. “It’s been successful,” she reported. This service also helps TCAP reach their yearly goal of 70,000 animal sterilizations.
TCAP’s mission doesn’t end with pets. Through their Feral Fix program, TCAP provides free spay and neutering services for the first 12 feral cats brought into each of their clinics every day. “When we say feral, we mean they cannot be touched and must be brought in using live traps,” Stacey explained. “The program was designed to help manage those unmanageable colonies and to limit the number of cats coming into the animal shelter.” Across its eight locations, TCAP provides this service to over 1,000 feral cats every month.
TCAP employs 70 staff members across their organization to keep their clinics running. Depending on the day, they will have six to 10 contracted veterinarians working across their eight locations. “Many of the surgeons are doing operations all day, every day, and they’re doing an amazing job.” Wellness veterinarians work with owners and their pets one-on-one during walk-in vaccine hours, ensuring that pets receive the best care and referring them to full-service clinics, should the pet need it.
“We can’t solve all the world’s problems, but we can create a great place for people to work, for people to visit and provide affordable care for pets.” To aid TCAP’s mission, you can donate on their website or purchase essential items for them from their Amazon gift list. You can also aid their mission by bringing in feral cats to be fixed and giving them post-operation care. Your contribution can help prevent overcrowded animal shelters and keep people’s pets at home.
Texas Coalition for Animal Protection
344 SW Wilshire Blvd., Ste. E
Burleson, TX 76028
(940) 566-5551
texasforthem.org
facebook.com/TCforAP
instagram.com/tcapspayneuter
Hours:
Monday-Friday: 9:00 a.m.-noon
Written by Emma McKay
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