Clinics provide free vet exams, vaccinations, and preventatives to Houston pet owners
HOUSTON—March 25, 2021—With the global pandemic marking its one-year anniversary, Friends For Life Animal Shelter today announced they will continue their free drive-thru vet clinics and pet food banks throughout 2021. This program provides free pet wellness resources and pet food to Houstonians seeking help caring for their pets.
Friends For Life started the drive-thru clinics and pet food banks on March 22, 2020, in response to receiving an increasing number of calls for assistance. Many of the callers had never had to reach out for help but were facing pandemic-related income reduction and job losses. Friends For Life has conducted 26 of these clinics since last March and plans are in place to run a clinic each month throughout 2021, free of charge to pet owners.
One clinic attendee shared her experience:
“My daughter and I live together, and we are both waiters, so our income has been all but eliminated due to loss of job/business during COVID. We have never had to rely on charity or donations in taking care of ourselves and our animals and it was a very humbling experience to have to do so. It was nothing short of a godsend that I heard about Friends For Life. I LOVED every single lady that worked with me handling my dogs throughout the process. They were able to take care of all three dogs in 45 minutes! The people I interacted with were cheerful, sensitive, and just utterly kind. I left there not feeling ashamed or embarrassed for needing charity, but with tears of gratitude at the sincere kindness they imparted.”
As part of this program, Friends For Life will continue to provide services free of charge for each pet, including: vet exams, rabies vaccinations, heartworm tests, FIV/FeLV tests, dewormer, flea preventatives, heartworm preventatives, DHPP2, FVRCP, and pet food.
“Thanks to the generosity of partners like Sawyer Yards, Main Street Capital, Alley Cat Allies, Reliant, and H-E-B, we’ve enabled families to keep their pets, avoiding the heartbreaking decision to surrender their animals to a shelter for lack of resources,” shared Salise Shuttlesworth, Friends For Life Founder and Executive Director. “We’ve been met with tears of gratitude from Houstonians bringing their pets to us. This direct service is making a huge impact on keeping animals in their homes, and with their families. And it’s work that we knew needed to continue.”
Sawyer Yards has stepped up to provide free event space to accommodate each clinic. To keep attendees and volunteers safe and efficient, the clinic is run on an appointment basis, which helps the team triage more than 100 animals at each event. The sign-up form for the clinic can be found at: friends4life.org/drivethruclinic
About Friends For Life Animal Shelter
Founded in 2002, Friends For Life was the first to bring an innovative shelter model to Houston – saving animals regardless of their breed, age, or condition. Houston-grown, we’re here to help our neighbors care for the pets they love through direct support services that reach outside the shelter walls to start conversations. We’re not finished until every animal has a safe home. Until then, we’ll be innovating, improving, and tracking results to find the most effective ways to save lives. Friends For Life is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit. Learn more at friends4life.org
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