Can't get your pet to vet? New mobile unit soon to visit Pierce County cities
Starting this weekend, a new mobile veterinary unit will be serving Pierce County and bringing animal care into new neighborhoods.
On Monday, the Humane Society for Tacoma & Pierce County unveiled its new service on wheels, named S.P.O.T. for Spay/Neuter, Preventative medicine, Outreach and Transport. Costing just under $400,000, the project was funded by donors, especially by a major donation from the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, according to Leslie Dalzell, chief executive officer of the Humane Society TPC.
Dalzell told The News Tribune that a national shortage of veterinarians has raised prices of animal healthcare, making services more difficult to afford. The mobile unit especially hopes to improve low-income pet owners' access to care through vaccines, microchip services and wellness exams right in their neighborhoods. The mobile unit primarily will serve cats and dogs for the time being, she added.
Dalzell said building trust and relationships with the community will take time, but the Humane Society plans to begin to integrate the mobile unit with monthly wellness clinics.
'This first year is going to be a little bit ramping up those networks,' Dalzell said. 'We may even partner with some other community leaders in the area, some churches, community centers, and other rescues … so we can make as big an impact as possible.'
Lauren Green, the Humane Society TPC's director of communications, told The News Tribune that S.P.O.T. is custom-made and will carry medications, vaccines, pet food and other tools, supporting monthly vaccine and wellness clinics, mobile adoption events and especially focus on a targeted Trap, Neuter, Return (TNR) program to help diminish local cat colonies. It also is equipped with a surgical suite for spay or neuter surgery in the field — although that service will not be immediately available for pets to focus on cat-colony management — and spaces for animals to recover after procedures, she said.
The first monthly wellness clinic will occur Saturday, April 26, Dalzell said, adding that visitors can find information on future clinics and S.P.O.T.'s whereabouts on the Humane Society website at thehumanesociety.org.
Christine Avelar, director of veterinary services at the Humane Society TPC, told The News Tribune that the mobile unit would be great for outreach to under-served communities across Pierce County. She added access to services has been a huge need for the area — many people have expressed issues with lack of transport or disability that create challenges to reaching the main clinic.
Introducing S.P.O.T. to areas that lack access to pet wellness also will help the Humane Society disseminate information and educate people and animal caretakers about the best decisions and care for their animals.
The Humane Society will be hiring a coordinator position to manage the mobile unit's programming, and veterinarians will rotate shifts in the vehicle, Avelar added. Avelar said she is excited to be one of the veterinarians working in S.P.O.T. in the future.
'We'll be able to vaccinate and do simple medical procedures for the folks in the community that can't get here, so I'm really excited to be able to help those pets,' Avelar said.
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