Read the full article by Chris Nichols at CapRadio
Sacramento County has launched a first-of-its-kind mobile veterinary clinic focused on caring for pets owned by homeless residents.
County veterinarian Cynthia Metcalf will run the program, aptly named the PAWS Clinic, or Pet Aid and Wellness Services. She said the clinic’s mobile trailer will visit local homeless shelters and encampments to spay and neuter pets, administer vaccinations and care for sick and injured animals. She added it is the first publicly-funded program of its kind in the state.
“If we’re able to kind of extend that olive branch and help their pet and develop that relationship with them, then oftentimes that can give them what they need in order to make improvements in their life,” the veterinarian said Wednesday, at an event celebrating the program’s launch at the county’s Safe Stay homeless shelter in South Sacramento.