Young-Williams Animal Center is celebrating a milestone of 30,000 spay and neuter surgeries in Knoxville.

Kitlin, a six-month-old cat helped Young-Williams reach the achievement Tuesday. Workers held a special ceremony for Kitlin and her owner Deborah Agnew.

Veterinarians say spaying and neutering your pets has several health benefits– it lowers their risk for cancer and the chance of aggressive behavior, but mostly they say it’s a good idea to help save lives.

“It’s monumental because the number of surgeries we’ve done have allowed us to decrease the number of pets brought to the center. Because there’s not as many being born, that means we got to find homes,” explained Veterinarian Dr. Lisa Chassy. “It means we get to save more lives and we don’t have to put as many to sleep.”

Young-Williams even gave Kitlin a gift basket for being the 30,000th patient. She got a new pet bed and some goodies from Natural Pet Supply.