So you think your outpatient surgery team is fast? Our team rocks: More than 200 outpatient hysterectomies and orchiectomies in 12 hours.

How? Well, turnover time is nil: We don't mop the floor between cases because that's where patients happen to be recovering. Most patients are anesthetized in a bathroom; when they are limp, a nurse shuttles them to another station for shave, scrub and prep.

Strapped to plastic trays, female patients are slapped onto an OR table as the previous patient is snatched off. On a table nearby, with legs hoisted in stirrups, males are prepped for five-minute orchiectomies. For most of our outpatients, it's the lone contact they will ever have with a doctor, so we make it rich. Ears are cleaned, nails are trimmed, parasite preventives are applied and vaccines are injected.

Our patients at these makeshift outpatient surgery clinics, held in donated or vacant retail buildings, are dogs and cats. You see, I live in a rural area. We have no animal-control officers, no animal shelters and few veterinarians. While a multitude of dogs and cats share the land with us, countless poor people just don't have the resources to care for them.

So, some surgery centers here help the poor and their animals. Their discarded, resterilized surgical supplies are recycled for animal welfare. What these facilities would otherwise throw in the trash can bring hope and health to the homeless and the less fortunate. Oxygen donated by an ASC revives post-op patients. Orthopedic surgery center rejects rejuvenate cats and dogs with damaged bones. We barter leftovers we can't use in our spay-day events with sympathetic vets for ongoing care of the animals who live with the poor. It's an all-volunteer effort: Veterinarians, nurses and techs toil without pay. In the end, our whole community benefits, not just the dogs and cats.

Give the gift of life this holiday season: Donate your unused, discarded or outdated surgical supplies, instruments and equipment. Your old autoclave, those leftover sponges, some discarded suture: Each can bring peace to animals who are unable - without our help - to end fights for breeding rights or to halt the births of pups and kittens who die unwanted and homeless on the streets. Caring for those less fortunate relieves suffering, fosters hope and brings peace to the community.