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ASHLAND Underprivileged dogs and cats filled the parking lot along Carter Avenue Saturday for an animal street clinic.
From young to old, and from Yorkies to Boxers, dogs and cats all waited at The Neighborhood of Ashland to be seen early afternoon Saturday at a makeshift animal clinic for street dogs.
Dr. Amy B. Bess, street clinic doctor, said, “We are seeing animals at the age of two months old all the way up to 17-year-olds,” she said. The clinic gave a chance for underprivileged dogs and cats to be seen by a doctor.
Bess has been in the field of veterinary medicine for three decades and with The Neighborhood of Ashland since 2019. “I love helping the people out,” Bess said. “This is just a way to give back out to the community to donate my time.”
Animals at the street clinic were given microchips, dewormer, vaccines, heartworm medicine and flea prevention.
“The clinic serves as a purpose for all these animals to get vaccinated and vet care that normally would not ever step foot in a vet’s office,” Bess said. She said the animals seen at the street clinic were receiving all the preventive care ranging from skin to health issues.
Among the 10 volunteers was Nan O’Hara, a volunteer for The Neighborhood of Ashland. She said the parking lot was crowded with people and that she was happy to take part in the clinic.
“When I arrived this morning it was a mayhem of madness. There must have been 120 animals out here, cars were everywhere,” she said. “The biggest bunch we have seen in the past was 48 dogs.”
The response to the street dog clinic was not expected and was not planned, O’Hara said. The event was shared on a social networking site, which led to more than 100 people gathering in the parking lot — some as early as 9 a.m.
“Someone decided to put it on Facebook — and that’s not what we do,” she said. “They took a picture of our flyer and posted it to Facebook and I had to be the one to tell people sorry, we can’t see …
“We knew how many we could do today,” she said. “We had a list of 24; somebody started their own list. People were getting mad and yelling at me. I said, ‘I’m sorry, we had nothing to do with the person that put this on social media.'”
Among the people waiting with her dog to be seen was Hannah Livengood.
She said, “Vets can be expensive. This really does help.”
Bess noted that without former and current employees of Positive Pets, Tri-State Animal ER, and Bellefonte, it would not have been possible.
(606) 326-2657 |
ajohnson@dailyindependent.com
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