Volunteer vets provide free health care for pets belonging to the homeless
Los Angeles County has an estimated 58,000 homeless people, and it's believed that 20 percent have a pet of some kind. Due to the cost, many of those dogs, cats, and other animals have never seen a vet before, but on Wednesday, a group of volunteer veterinarians and technicians set up a pop-up clinic at the Frank Rice Access Center in downtown Los Angeles and offered their services free of charge.
"It's amazing to see," one volunteer told ABC 7. "You know, a lot of these people would rather feed their dogs than feed themselves. And it's really sad but at the same time amazing. And I feel like half of these people are alive because of their animals."
Edward Irvine came to the clinic with his dogs Apollo, Cherry, and Precious, and told ABC 7 he couldn't imagine life without them. "They keep you calm," he said. "You have responsibilities, you know they're around, they know when you're feeling sad. It's just wonderful support. You know they love me no matter what."
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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