One-stop health clinics for pets and their people
SEATTLE - A unique partnership is working to keep pets just as healthy as their human parents. And the best part is that it's all free.
It's a win-win for low income, or people experiencing homelessness and their pets. A combination clinic with medical staff to care for both.
The mobile clinic set up in the parking lot of the Ballard Food Bank buzzed with activity. Veterinarian Hanna Ekstrom bounced across the parking lot and in and out of the veterinarian ambulance, helping those in need. She said the Seattle Veterinary Outreach regularly provides free care for pets and now they’re also partnering with others, to take advantage of a great opportunity to also get those pets' parents the care they need.
“By keeping pets healthy first of all they’re there for their human companions their owners you could say and second of all the pets are actually serving a purpose by encouraging them to take care of themselves we are seeing people who might not get vaccinated or getting vaccinated because they want to be there for their pets,” explained Dr. Ekstrom.
In the mobile vet office, a large cat, arrived to be neutered, so Dr. Ekstrom assessed his health and took care of that procedure right on the spot. Inside, vaccination teams, from the Washington Department of Health put shots in the arms, of people seeking a COVID-19 vaccination.
“Today we have master’s in public health students from the University of Washington doing their practicum so they’re learning a little bit more about why people are choosing or not choosing to get vaccines, “she explained.
Dr. Ekstrom says it’s important to learn more about those reasons and try to answer their questions, since people who are not fully vaccinated are 2.4 times more likely to get an infection than vaccinated people. Plus, Dr. Ekstrom said the unvaccinated are13 times more likely to be hospitalized and 27 times more likely to die.
This Ballard clinic, the Seattle Veterinary Outreach set up, is not the only one providing this care. They're moving to the Compass Health Resource Fair on January 19. That event, at 77 South Washington Street in Seattle, also includes several other services.
Then on Friday, January 21, they'll be at the Recovery Café, at 4202 6th Ave South in Seattle. In all locations, the vet teams are joined by vaccination teams, either from the state or county.
They’re able to pay for all of this with grants from Seattle King County Public Health and from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
