Reasons to Cheer
Dr. Lauren Park of Vets in Vans explains what neutering means to her next patient. photo: Vets in Vans
I am not sure about you, but I am weary of bad news; however, I must confess I am guilty of sharing it. In fact, in my last Commission Tails article, I catastrophized about the state of veterinary care in San Francisco. Reader, I am delighted to share there are reasons to be cheerful - and maybe even reasons to cheer.
Good News
At our May commission meeting, Deputy Director Amy Corso of San Francisco Animal Care and Control (ACC) reported that ACC had some exciting partnerships in the works so I called her for more details. These partnerships are a great start to addressing worrisome veterinary service gaps that negatively impact local shelters. Let's start with Vets in Vans.
Vets in Vans Reduces Financial Barriers to Animal Care
Vets in Vans (VIV) is a nonprofit mobile veterinary clinic that provides comprehensive clinic services, including urgent care, preventative care, routine and non-routine surgical procedures, humane euthanasia, and (soon) dental services, to communities in the Bay Area. To date, ACC has used VIV for surgeries with heartwarming results.
Take Capone, an older pitbull, who was surrendered to ACC because the cost to remove a mass from his face was beyond his elderly guardian's budget. Enter VIV, which provided an affordable solution his guardian could manage. When ACC offered this option, his tearful guardian gratefully jumped on it. She’s now pleased to have her Capone home and healthy.
Vets in Vans is helping to fill a worrisome hole of equitable access to veterinary care. Although its services are not free, they are affordable, offering a comprehensive list of payment options and resources to reduce financial barriers to veterinary care.
I had a chance to speak with Dr. Lauren Park, DVM, a co-founder of VIV, along with Dr. Tracy Huang, DVM. Both are former shelter veterinarians at Oakland Animal Services.
According to Dr. Park, one of five pet animals surrendered to the shelter is surrendered because of the cost of care. VIV aspires to break this sad chain of events. After all, let's get real. What would Capone's adoption prospects have been as an elderly Pitbull needing costly surgery?
Dr. Park also noted VIV's staff includes employees trained in social service who work alongside the community, offering solutions to provide accessible and compassionate veterinary care to preserve the human-animal bond.
You can find the VIV van every Tuesday in the ACC shelter parking lot at 1419 Bryant Street. VIV also hosts clinics on Mondays and Wednesdays in Alameda and Oakland. To find out more or to schedule an appointment, visit Vets in Vans. But don’t wait - appointments fill up fast!
More Good News: Returning Clinics
Yet another reason to be cheerful - the quarterly low-cost rabies and free microchip clinics are back. And guess what? The clinics now also offer DHLPP (Parvo) vaccines to address the uptick in Parvo cases that shelters are seeing. Once again, ACC has contracted with the folks at VIV to host these clinics.
The first clinic was already offered in July, but you can check here for future dates and costs. Currently, these clinics are for dogs only, but I am hopeful (and advocating) that future clinics also include free microchips for cats.
Full Belly Bus Helps Unhoused People and Pets
Another mobile pet care team - Full Belly Bus - also helps boost equitable pet health care in our city. FBB's mobile pet care team is committed to supporting San Francisco pet owners who are working to prevent and end their own homelessness. The organization’s primary goal is to help people keep their pets. Last month, over 80 animals received free, healthy food supplies from FBB's pet food.
FBB provides a range of free services for the companion animals of unhoused people. These include licensed veterinary care; certified animal behavior training; grooming; pet food; and supplies like leashes, collars, harnesses, and pet coats. FBB’s animal welfare experts offer care without conditions and help without judgment.
FBB began in 2015 as an advocacy organization for pet owners who are residentially challenged. Since then it has helped reduce the number of dogs and cats entering San Francisco's animal shelter while enhancing the quality of life for transitionally housed animals. Like VIV, FBB helps fill yet another hole in equitable veterinary care for our community.
A New Emergency Vet Contract?
In May, I reported that SFACC has been forced to keep veterinarians on call seven days a week from 6 a.m. to midnight since September 2021, as the city did not have an after-hours emergency veterinary contract. I now have hope that this may change soon. Deputy Director Corso recently reported that a contract is in the final stages of negotiations with a vendor for emergency vet services. Am I jinxing this by mentioning it here? I think not. The tide is shifting in a more positive direction, and so is my outlook.
In fact, we have reasons to be cheerful and so do our city’s animals. I am delighted to see these changes and hope to share more good news in the coming months. Until then, I hope the dog days of summer find you safe, healthy, and happy.
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The San Francisco Commission of Animal Control and Welfare meets on the second Thursday of each month at 5:30 p.m. in San Francisco City Hall, Room 408. Information about remote access to meetings is available on the commission’s website. Agendas for upcoming meetings are published 72 hours prior to that meeting.
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Please be aware that the views and opinions expressed in this column are those of Commissioner Tobin and do not necessarily reflect the official policies or positions of the Commission of Animal Control and Welfare.