Del Rio animal rescue coalition opens long-awaited low-cost clinic

Affordable pet surgery finally has a home in Del Rio, and the need showed up immediately. At the former Rathke veterinary building at 404 Converse Street, the Animal Advocacy & Rescue Coalition held its first low-cost spay and neuter clinic after nearly eight years of fundraising, renovations and volunteer work, treating 53 dogs and cats over two days and ending with 36 more animals on the waiting list.

The milestone matters because the prices many families face at a normal veterinary office are steep. In local reporting from the clinic push, Border Animal Mission said a spay can run from $400 to $700 and a neuter from $350 to $500. AARC’s clinic was built to push those costs down through donations and volunteer labor, the kind of help that can decide whether a household sterilizes a pet or leaves another litter to chance.

AARC director Katelyn Hargrove Hurta said the coalition had worked since 2018 to rescue animals and remodel the building, which had sat vacant for about five years before AARC acquired it. The organization said businessman Howard Fletcher bought the property from Dr. Herman Rathke with the goal of creating a permanent clinic for Del Rio, and in 2021 AARC said it was trying to raise at least $30,000 to make that plan real. AARC describes itself as a nonprofit foster-based rescue founded in 2018, focused on rescue, reunification, outreach and reducing overpopulation.

The clinic also lands in the middle of a public-health problem, not just a pet-care problem. The City of Del Rio says its Animal Services Division works to prevent the spread of disease from animals to people, enforce local and state laws and increase the number of animals leaving the Animal Control facility alive. Low-cost spay and neuter access supports that goal by reducing stray animals, unplanned litters and the shelter pressure that follows them.

The demand is countywide. Friends of Del Rio Animals says it holds two low-cost spay and neuter clinics each year and runs a trap-neuter-return program, while a Border Animal Mission and Helping Paws Across Borders clinic at the Val Verde County Fairgrounds earlier this year served 439 pets and drew 3,000 appointment emails before the list closed. AARC’s first run at 404 Converse Street showed the building can now serve the public, but the 36-animal waiting list made clear that one clinic weekend will not solve Del Rio’s overpopulation problem on its own.