Melanie Scherer has a home in Pebble Beach, the kingdom of golf, but she doesn’t play golf. She lives in a community that caters to children, but she doesn’t have any. She also lives in the canine capital of the world, and she has five dogs. At last count.
When Gus, Scherer’s English cream Labrador retriever died, her home looked like one of those celebrity memorials with flowers, candles and cards. Neighbors wondered which member of her family had died. Her dog had.
In 2015, Scherer sold her executive recruiting company and found herself volunteering and fundraising for nonprofit organizations with the same investment of time and energy she had put into her business. Realizing her devotion to dogs and cats was leading her to donate a lot of money to animal rescue organizations, she wondered if she could make a better contribution by doing something to reduce the need for animal shelters.
She said, “Seeing so many shelters filled up with dogs broke my heart. I thought, that’s it. My donations are putting a Band-Aid on the problem. I needed to figure out how to provide a solution.”
Scherer’s solution is SNIP, which stands for Spay, Neuter Imperative Project, a low-cost mobile spay-and-neuter clinic housed in two 26-foot customized buses, one in the Central Valley, and the other in Monterey County, which travels to Seaside, East Salinas, Prunedale, Hollister, King City, Soledad, Chualar, San Lucas, San Ardo and Castroville, offering low-cost clinics by a highly trained veterinary team.
“Our destinations are based on underserved areas that have the greatest need,” she said, “and the lowest resources to invest in pet care.”
The need to spay and neuter an abundance of stray dogs and cats, as well as those that are homed but whose family cannot afford the cost of medical care for their animals, never takes a day off. Neither does Scherer.
“I listen to God and to the members of the communities I serve,” said Scherer, “and their messages show me the way. I am extremely present in this organization. I love to talk with people who want to be responsible pet owners. People come out to the bus, bringing their pets and their neighbors. SNIP is a community builder, an eclectic mix of people wanting to do the right thing.”
Scherer said she took “quite a beating” when she introduced the SNIP Bus to South County because many people were not in a position to prioritize fixing their pets. But she believed many of them would if they had accessibility, affordability, and an understanding of the importance of doing so.
“People weren’t going to find a way to drive up to the SPCA, drop off their pet, drive home, make a return trip to pick up their pet, and pay the price. So, we come to them,” Scherer said. “For a nominal cost, we spay or neuter, microchip, vaccinate and, through our nonprofit ‘Luke’s Legacy Foundation,’ we provide low-cost veterinary care on board their Wellness Waggin’.”
SNIP was conceived through the critical overpopulation of unwanted pets in Monterey County. It was born of Scherer’s intention to mitigate the issue, not by finding homes for these animals, but by preventing overpopulation and the resulting suffering and death of many animals. It is expanding its reach by sending the SNIP Bus to “snip the problem in the bud.” It has grown to treat an average of 400 to 600 animals a month in Monterey County, says Scherer, both pets and strays, sometimes a mother and her litter.
“We don’t fix a mom without fixing the kittens and the puppies,” Scherer said. “Kittens, as early as 4 months of age, can have a litter, and dogs, which take a little longer to mature, can have a litter around 6 to 8 months of age.”
It takes a village
Scherer is not a veterinarian. But she knows people who are. And she realizes, to achieve her goals, she needs, not to be all things but to gather a diversity of folks whose skills will help her achieve her vision. Scherer is an animal rights activist, a humanitarian, a champion of women, an entrepreneur, and a Christian, who relies on her wits, her heart, her courage, her community, and her faith to make a difference.
A businesswoman who graduated from CSU Stanislaus with a degree in marketing and went on to establish her own recruiting firm, Scherer has recruited a wide diversity of community members in support of SNIP and its mission.
She believes that caring for the animals in underserved communities is only one way to elevate lives. She also donates clothes, toys, and books to South County schools. And some 85% of the men and women who work with her on behalf of SNIP are Hispanic and live in the communities it serves.
“So many of the women I work with start with a shyness about them, having come from male-dominated households. I love helping women help others,” said Scherer, “because in the process, they learn how to help themselves. And that serves the whole family.”
SNIP is funded independently, through generous sponsors and community contributions.
“I am so humbled to be a part of this,” said Scherer, “and to be able to make a difference on behalf of something I love more than anything, which is animals. I never, in a million years, would have thought I’d be able to do something so loving and compassionate and kind. I just wish we could be everywhere.”
For more information about SNIP Bus services, visit www.snipbus.org.
