What We Do

Our Spay/Neuter Program

In the United States, pet overpopulation results in the killing of millions of adoptable dogs and cats every year. Founded in 2000 to raise funds to design and build the current Aspen Animal Shelter, Friends of the Aspen Animal Shelter has since dedicated its efforts to combating pet overpopulation and the consequences thereof. Our aggressive spay/neuter/rescue program sterilizes more than 2,000 pets annually and provides sanctuary, medical care, and placement for hundreds of animals in need each year. Working in conjunction with more than 25 veterinary hospitals across the country, Friends of the Aspen Animal Shelter is based out of the Aspen Animal Shelter in Aspen, Colorado.

Since 2022, we have greatly expanded our spay neuter program to include these non-profit organizations which focus on spay/neuter clinics, primarily in the Four Corners area, where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet. They are RezDawg Rescue, Dogster/D-Snip, The Parker Project/Serengeti Foundation and RezRoads Rescue.

From the Roaring Fork Valley to the Navajo Nation, from the East Coast to the West Coast, Friends of the Aspen Animal Shelter is helping people and pets in our area and beyond and is proud to say that we are Spaying it Forward :)

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Scholarships

Beginning in 2022, we contributed to scholarships for a number of deserving veterinary technician students in their junior year at the local Colorado Mountain College in Glenwood Springs. We have continued to fund these ever since and will do so again in 2025.

We also donated to five exciting hands-on programs for veterinary students at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. These programs are offered outside of the regular curriculum and give the students an opportunity to gain experience in the “real world” of veterinary care--working directly with animals, with particular emphasis on shelter medicine. We plan to fund programs that focus on shelter medicine in 2025.

There is a great need here in Colorado, as well as nationally, for both veterinarians and veterinary technicians. We believe that this is an area which aligns with our mission to support the efforts of like-minded, community-based programs.

Outreach

We also donated to another nonprofit, the Colorado Pet Pantry, in Boulder, a wonderful organization that temporarily feeds Colorado pets, allowing families to increase their ability to care for pets with the goal of keeping them out of shelters and with their families.

We support the nonprofit, Pauline Schneegas Wildlife Foundation in Silt, Colorado, which provides quality, professional care to injured and orphaned wildlife in conjunction with educational programs on wildlife and the environment.

What We've Achieved

The Aspen Animal Shelter is fortunate to have a nearly zero-percent euthanasia rate and
has not killed an adoptable pet in more than twenty years.

  • Since 2007, more than 36,000 dogs and cats have been helped through
    the Spay/ Neuter Program with FAAS.

  • During that same period, the Aspen Animal Shelter, with FAAS assistance,
    has rescued more than 7,000 dogs and cats.