Banfield Charitable Trust supports veterinary clinic for homeless pet owners
For the third year in a row, Banfield Charitable Trust has awarded Good Neighbor Center (GNC) a grant to host a free, day-long veterinary clinic for pet owners who are homeless or at-risk of becoming homeless. Since 2007, GNC has enabled the clinic to operate at Project Homeless Connect (PHC), an annual event inWashington County,Oregonwhere this vulnerable population can talk with nonprofits and government agencies and receive services. Demand for the clinic has steadily grown each year with the worsening economy. In 2009, GNC served 44 pets and this year they hope to serve 75.
Here, Jennie Proctor, a grant writer for GNC, discusses the success of the event and the bond between homeless pet owners and their pets.
A Good Neighbor Center client waits to have his dog examined by a veterinarian at Project Homeless Connect 2011.
What problems are facing the people and pets you serve?
Persons who are homeless have barriers in many aspects of their lives. Even in the best of times, finding a job, much less a living wage job, is difficult. With no job, even housing and food expenses are severely jeopardized. They are simply unable to meet their most basic needs. When those who are homeless have pets, the pets are also living in situations that may be dangerous, precarious or just not suited to healthy outcomes.
What is the value of offering veterinary services to people facing such big challenges?
Persons who are homeless don’t just receive services at PHC, they receive support, acceptance, friendship, outreach and hospitality in ways that don’t feel like typical services. The pet services are a critical piece of the care provided on site. Who among us does not want and need to feel we are providing for our families? It is empowering for them to make the effort to have their pet seen by the veterinary staff, and it aids in their belief that they have decision-making abilities in their lives. These pet owners are willing to wait almost an entire day to ensure their pets are seen by qualified doctors. It’s really very moving.
How do pets benefits?
What the clinic offers is preventive health care which can prolong and improve the lives of pets. Vaccinations provide protection against diseases for the homeless pet and for other pets with whom they come into contact. The provision of preventive health care makes pets’ lives more comfortable and can prevent the on-set of more acute health issues providing for longer term health.
Losing a pet to a preventable disease can have devastating emotional consequences.
Do you have an example of a small but significant way preventive care can help?
Clipping nails can prevent the nails from growing too long which forces the dog’s toes out of their normal position. One very large, older dog came to PHC this past January with nails about two inches long. You could literally see them splayed out on the floor as he walked. We saw, quite literally, how clipping his nails changed the dog’s gait. It was an amazing transformation. Even something as simple as nail cutting can forestall serious health impacts on pets.
Good Neighbor Center is one of 25 programs funded by BCT in its second grant cycle of 2011. Thanks to our generous donors, BCT supports unique solutions that address root causes of pet surrender in local communities across the country. Learn more about our grants programs.
