The Helena Area Friends of Pets hosted a clinic on Saturday and Sunday that spayed and neutered 300 cats and dogs.

Carole Swayze, coordinator of the clinic, said the event was really to get through the current waiting list and start over with a new list. Last September a clinic altered 562 animals. No advertising was done for this clinic so the waiting list could be addressed.

"We target individuals who couldn't afford it, but also feral," she said. "Our primary goal though, is to help families with pets in the home, but we recognize the need for spaying and neutering ferals."

Helena Area Friends of Pets holds two clinics annually with one funded through city and county funds. The other is paid for through donations from clients and community members.

Swayze says she is optimistic that both the city and county will increase funding so two clinics would be paid for. If that happens, the group would put on three clinics a year.

Eight-year-old Zack McHugh helps his mom Lynsey, a veterinarian technician, during many of the clinics. He sterilizes surgical trays and vacuums after the surgical procedures. McHugh says he is glad to help because his mom has a lot of work to do at the clinics.

It takes a lot of volunteers to make the clinics successful, said local veterinarian Julie Kappes.

She began working with the Montana Spay Neuter Task Force almost since its inception and said she was very proud to be part of the process.

One reason Kappes said she spent the weekend volunteering was to help address the overpopulation problem but also because unwanted litters are a drain on the Lewis and Clark Humane Society.

There are many health benefits to getting animals spayed or neutered, she said. Female dogs and cats don't develop ovarian or uterine cancer because they don't have reproductive organs. Male dogs don't get testicular cancer and both species stay closer to home, she goes on to say.

"It does not alter their personality or their ability to perform as a working animal," Kappes said.