WHITING – A team of veterinarians, vet technicians and vet students converged here and volunteered their time this past week, collectively providing free spay and neuter procedures for 260 pets belonging to many low-income families in Washington County.

The Memphis-based Rural Area Veterinary Services program, founded a decade ago by a University of Tennessee vet professor, spent five days at the Whiting community center. They converted the room and adjoining firehouse bays into a mobile veterinary clinic.

The stop in Whiting was the first time the Rural Area Veterinary Services program has held such a clinic in the Northeast. The group devotes much of its time to Appalachian-area communities, according to the Humane Society’s regional director, Joanne Bourbeau.

This Whiting clinic was two years in the making. A group of Lubec-area residents who care about pets and call themselves FAT CAT (Feral and Tame Cat Assistance Team) requested that the Memphis group bring its mobile clinic to Washington County. Veterinary services are limited Down East. There are two practices in Machias, and single clinics in Calais, Perry, Columbia Falls and Milbridge.

Rural Area Veterinary Services had hoped to make it to Maine last year, but couldn’t because of an overbooked schedule.

Between Tuesday and Saturday, as many as 260 cats and dogs – mostly cats – were spayed and neutered by the group. Five vets and four vet techs worked alongside 27 veterinary students from across the country. They were all volunteers who learned about the opportunity on the program’s Web site, www.hsus.org/ravs.

“We could have done more,” said Bourbeau, who works out of Whitingham, Vt. “But some appointments were missed because people couldn’t catch outdoor cats to bring them in.”

All of the families who received the services dropped off pets early in the day, then retrieved them at day’s end. On Friday, because of the great response, the last pet was still on the table at 8:30 p.m.

The problem with feral cats in Washington County is the same that the mobile unit encounters everywhere: People get rid of unwanted pets, even dumping them at someone else’s door, then think they are “off the hook” for responsibility for animals.

True responsibility, Bourbeau said, involves making sure one’s pets are spayed or neutered to prevent unwanted litters.

Katharyn Gilmartin, a fourth-year student at Colorado State University, cuddled a cat after it emerged in a sleepy state from its procedure. This is the third mobile-unit experience she has participated in.

“People here are crying for this service,” Gilmartin said. “It feels good to do something for the community and for the animals.”

Some volunteers were local residents or hailed from elsewhere in Maine. Kathy and William Newcomb, veterinarians for the Little River Veterinary Clinic in Perry, provided 200 rabies tags. Pets were provided with vaccinations and general health checks, too.

Simon Alexander, a veterinarian from Dover-Foxcroft, helped out in the clinic for a few days. He had previously volunteered with the rural mobile unit as a vet student.

Families and individuals, learning of the free service mostly by word of mouth, made appointments for their pets. They were on the honor system as to their low-income status.

The procedure, health checks and shots each pet received were worth about $120. Dogs got tested for heartworm, and all animals received shots for distemper and rabies and worms.

A few animals had bad teeth removed while under the anesthesia. One had a bad eye removed.

“We do anything we can do while we have the pets,” Bourbeau said. “Generally, basic stuff if they need something other than major surgery.”