While the demand for pet care services for residents on social assistance is not slowing down, Peterborough Veterinary Outreach remains committed to supporting as many vulnerable citizens as they can.
The volunteer-run initiative does so by hosting free monthly pet wellness clinics dogs and cats through One City Peterborough at the Trinity Community Centre at 360 Reid Street.
The clinic is available for anyone on Ontario Works (OW) or Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), residing in the city of Peterborough, and who has not had an ongoing relationship with a vet clinic within the past 12 months.
As most clinics are held on the second Tuesday of the month, the next clinic is scheduled for Tuesday (March 11) from 1:30 to 4 p.m.
The project has been running in Peterborough since 2018. After many trips to provide pro bono clinics in Central America for severely underserviced areas, Dr. Maggie Himann of Buckhorn Veterinary Services wanting to offer similar supports to residents in need in Peterborough. She connected with Jan van der Eyk, now the administrator of the initiative, who, at the time, was also thinking about a similar project.
“When we started talking to each other, we realized that we were both looking for ways to help people that are on limited incomes, in marginalized housing, or homeless and who needed some help with their pets,” says Himann.
When it first launched, Peterborough Veterinary Outreach served the closed community at The Mount Community Centre in Peterborough. They offered free medical services, with clients paying a minimal fee to cover the cost of vaccines.
Himann says the appreciation for the services was immediately felt, with most clients deciding to pay even more than they were required to in support of the service.
“These are people that did not have a lot of money, and were so thankful that we were coming to help their pets that they wanted to pass it on,” she says. “It just broke our hearts to see that.”
For Himann, this is proof of just how essential it is for people in vulnerable situations to have pets and to be able to stay with them.
“The human-animal bond is enormous,” she says. “For a lot of homeless people, having a dog is protection, as well as warmth, as well as mental health (support), and that’s a big thing. A lot of these people struggle and, for them, their animals are their touchstones that gets them up in the morning, gives them someone to take care of, and a reason for them to go to work.”
Feeling there was a larger community that would benefit from the services, Peterborough Veterinary Outreach partnered with One City Peterborough in 2020, which gave them a community space to operate out of. It also allowed the initiative to get more financial support as a program opening under One City, which is a registered charity.
Today, the clinic offers wellness care including examinations, deworming, vaccinations, flea and tick prevention, and heartworm prevention. They also offer advice on pet food and grooming, and most clinics will have food, treats, litter, dog coats, leashes, collars, and other products available for clients.
To limit the barriers to those needing support, sign-ups for the monthly clinics happen in-person at One City Peterborough the day before clinic, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. or until all the spots are filled.
To sign up, pet owners or their representatives must show a current proof of OW or ODSP payments, as well as a piece of photo ID with an address that matches the payment. Walk-ins on the day of the clinic are not accepted.
While the hope is to one day support residents outside the city, as well as others who might need support to get to vet services — like seniors, those with disabilities, or those who are not on social assistance though are still low income — Himann explains that it’s not currently possible.
“We don’t ever run out of people in this group, so expanding geographically or expanding to other groups of people financially with the number of volunteers that we have, we just cannot do that yet.”
In 2018, Peterborough Veterinary Outreach began with three volunteers serving 31 patients (from 17 clients, as some had multiple pets) and, at the end of 2024, they were serving 434 patients from 281 clients.
“Our costs have gone up quite a bit because we’re not just spending it on vaccinations,” Himann says.
“We’re spending it on antibiotics and pain medications, and all kinds of other treatments as well. Sometimes we end up having to manage (a pet’s) health for another month or two before they’re healthy enough to actually have vaccines in a medically competent way.”
Still, she prioritizes keeping the pets with their human companions as she’s seen “time and time again” the affect the animals have on their owners. She shares a story of one unhoused man whose dog needed critical surgery for an infection.
“When one of our volunteers drove the dog to the clinic to have the surgery done, the dog stared out the back window until she could not see her owner anymore, which was heartbreaking,” Himann recalls.
“When he came to the clinic the next month to do a follow-up with her, he walked in completely sober, completely straight, and he was so emotional and hugged everybody and thanked them,” she says. “He was so much more connected with the world around him because his dog was okay.”
Himann hopes that one day Peterborough Veterinary Outreach will have the means to help even more individuals stay with their pets.
“Our hope for the future is that we can continue to service the people that we are right now, but also ultimately expand,” Himann says. “But our reality is that we’re realizing that’s going to take a lot longer, and more financial support is needed in order to make that happen.”
For more information, follow Peterborough Veterinary Outreach on Facebook.
To donate to Peterborough Veterinary Outreach, visit www.onecityptbo.ca/donate and select Peterborough Veterinary Outreach from the dropdown menu.
