The Hawaiian Humane Society is once again overseeing pet sterilization efforts on O'ahu.

Under the Humane Society's care, the Neuter Now program allowed pet owners to choose from among 18 clinics and 40 veterinarians islandwide. Earlier this year, the Animal Care Foundation held the city contract with one clinic.

High demand forced Animal Care to put patients on a waiting list, but Animal Care Vice President Frank De Giacomo said the list "wasn't anything that couldn't be handled in a weekend of neutering."

Animal Care lost the contract on April 7, which it held from Feb. 2, after an "inability to fulfill contract requirements," said Dennis Kami- mura, licensing agent with the city Department of Customer Services. One of those requirements, the mobile clinic, didn't mature in time to meet contract requirements.

The mobile clinic was meant to serve underrepresented areas of the island: beaches, homeless populations and people unable to commute. The City Council also wanted the clinic to provide a list of outside veterinarians for clients.

City Council members "were asking for something we weren't willing to provide them," said De Giacomo. "They wanted names of veterinarians — we were focused on a mobile unit." As a result, the county canceled the contract and returned the program to the Humane Society, the second bidder which had operated the program for 23 years.

"The real champions of (our) program are the veterinarians," said Pam Burns, CEO of the Humane Society. "They are offering highly skilled services at greatly reduced prices."

Said Mayor Mufi Hannemann: "This is an essential program that reduces our island pet population and provides reasonable cost options for this valuable service."

Sterilization certificates for the program range from $20 for families on government assistance (EBT card holders) to $75 for a female dog and can be picked up at any satellite city hall or Humane Society location.