Summer 2023

SNIP Founder Melanie Scherer with her dogs, Mickey, Rudy, Babs and Poppy. Through her hard work, the SNIP bus has spayed and neutered 50,000 animals. SHORT CUTS GIVING BACK More is Less: SNIP Hits 50K B Y K E L LY SOUZA W hile the familiar adage is “less is more,” Pebble Beach’s own Melanie Scherer has taken her SNIP Bus and driven it up and down the state proclaiming that more is actually less. This April marked a milestone—50,000 low- or no-cost dog and cat spays and neuters performed on the bus in underserved and low-income areas, something Scherer has been passionate about since living in the desert of Coachella Valley. “SNIP,” or “Spay and Neuter is Imperative Project,” was a nonprofit idea Scherer brought to life after seeing the need. “People would dump dogs. Puppies would run the streets. There were so many dogs and cats in the shel- ter. The litters just kept coming. Most of those animals didn’t stand a chance, but the owners had no resources they could easily access or afford. My husband [Richard] and I knew we had to do something.” In 2016, they did do something. For the thousands of animals served, the result means they won’t be contributing to animal overpop- ulation because their owners reached out to have their pets “snipped.” The bus has grown to buses and serves communities in the very neighborhoods where the need is the greatest. SNIP Bus currently has teams serving in seven counties, including Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz. For more information, or to support SNIP Bus, visit www.snipbus.org . 86 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R 2 0 2 3 Photo: Kelli Uldall