Our recent, completely free Watts Dog Clinic was a huge success. How do we measure success? There are the numbers: 40 dogs were spayed or neutered, and over 200 dogs were vaccinated, micro chipped, and licensed. But more than just the numbers, an amazing team of caring people gathered together for one reason – to provide services for an underserved community of Los Angeles. Watts does not have even a single animal hospital operating in its area.
There are many groups that united to make this day special. Thanks to our friends at the Watts Coffee House (on the corner of 103rd and Wilmington) we had a terrific location, right in the center of the community. One of the biggest challenges that many dog owners in Watts face is lack of transportation.
Having a variety of services in one location, and making it a great location, was an enormous benefit. The Coffee House also helped us get the word out, which led to a line of people down the block on 103rd Street. What a crowd!
First we must thank the Amanda Foundation and their amazing team of vets and vet techs who provided all of the veterinarian services. Then there’s the Department of Animal Services staff and volunteers who were on hand to provide information about the many services that Los Angeles City shelters offer as well as one-stop licensing. A SCVMA team of veterinarians also came out and volunteered their time by offering medical advice, a new initiative at our clinics.
Members from the ASPCA Safety Net and Spay Clinic Team volunteered and provided services to families with dogs who needed more than just basic vaccinations or sterilization. For example, we met a cocker spaniel who had a serious eye injury, and thanks to the ASPCA, this sweet dog was examined and treated at an animal hospital early this week. Our own shelter intervention counselor, Amanda, did an amazing job with her outreach efforts and wrote vouchers for animals needing extensive medical care, issues such as mange, ear infection, and even one senior dog with a terminal liver issue. Everybody was assisted, and there wasn’t a dog with a medical problem was who was turned away.
By coming together to work as one cohesive team, volunteers from Watts Project, Ghetto Rescue FFoundation, and Downtown Dog Rescue passed out hundreds of pounds of dog food and treats, fitted hundreds of dogs with new collars and leashes, and passed out other goodies such as toys, dog beds, and shampoos. We even had a pet ID tag engraving machine, which made over 100 free dog tags for the community’s dogs.
A big thanks also goes out to trainer Larry Hill from Puppy Imprinters who came out and signed people up for dog training classes, as well as to Aromatherapy Groomers for coming out with their mobile van and grooming dogs free of charge for five hours! Lastly, we want to thank all of you, our supporters, who donated to our Amazon Wish List. You made it possible for our organization to be as generous as we could be, and the dogs and their families thank you for it. You can still donate to help our supply of dog food, collars, and leashes for our next clinic coming up this summer!
Overall, we measure success by this: We saw proof that most families want to get their dogs vaccinated and spayed/neutered. We already have over 100 people signed up for our next two clinics, and we could use your generous support to ensure that these clinics are just as successful. So why were most of the dogs in our line unsterilized? Why had they not received care they needed? Often, the costs of these services are prohibitive. Most people are not aware that there are free services available to them. Sure, there were a few people who didn’t want to neuter their dogs, but the great majority were on board and happy to find our free clinic. One family stands out in our minds. They greeted us with a three little dogs in a shopping cart, and although our clinic officially opened at 10:00AM, they had been waiting there since 5:00AM because they wanted to make sure they were first in line to receive any services offered.
In short, as we’ve said in the past, we have a poverty problem not a pet problem. We have people wanting to do the right thing, but literally no way they can afford to do it. The good news is that we can solve this by bringing more services to communities like Watts. By banding together to extend our compassion and help out, one day at a time, one clinic at a time, we can make all the difference in the world.
