CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS — Getting your pet microchipped is not only important if your pet goes missing, but it also serves as proof of ownership. 

Corpus Christi City Council approved the revised animal amendments in May for the first time since 2014. Mandatory microchipping is one of them. 

The Chapter 6 ordinance revision focuses on owner responsibility, resolving neglect, resolving nuisances, and modifying some definitions.

One local nonprofit, People Assisting Animal Control (PAAC), is using their Pets for Life Program to help people stay in compliance for free by offering spay and neuter clinics, vaccinations and microchipping. They do this using its surgery clinic on wheels called Fido Fixers. 

It’s a $150,000 mobile unit equipped with everything needed to perform dozens of surgeries and areas for recovery. 

Sylvia Martinez was one of the first to show up at the mobile unit. 

“It helps us just contain the cat population,” Martinez said. 

Martinez brought her kitten, Boots, to the clinic after seeing an influx of strays in her neighborhood, a major problem in the Coastal Bend. 

“We have a problem with renters that leave their animals behind,” Martinez said. “So this is one of the results from the mama cat that has had four to five litters.”

PAAC Founder Cheryl Montalvo Martinez said they are one of seven nonprofits in the country to receive the Fido Fixers mobile unit. 

“We only pay $1 a year,” she said. “The only thing we have to pay for is the diesel that goes in it. Other than that the insurance, maintenance, everything is covered.”

There are more than a dozen kennels secured inside. PAAC can see up to 25 animals in a day, typically from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

“The areas that we choose are poverty level and we want to be able to provide the resources for their pets,” Montalvo Martinez said. 

There is no doubt owning a pet is expensive. 

“Just because you may not have the resources, doesn't mean you don’t deserve a pet,” she said. 

The new city ordinances are aiming to control the stray population across town.

“One spay and neuter can make a difference for thousands of animals,” Montalvo Martinez said.

She said despite all the services they provide they rarely receive donations from the community. 

“So when it comes to donations,” she said. “People don’t want to give to what they don’t see.”

Each surgery performed costs the nonprofit about $125 per animal.

“So we take a huge loss on surgeries,” she said. “But it’s our mission and that’s why we do it.”

But animals and people, like Boots and his owner Sylvia are grateful. 

“This program that ya’ll have is just awesome,” she said. 

PAAC plans to keep the wheels rolling across town as long as they can.