Inside an examination room, Lulu the 9 year-old Chihuahua is putting up a feisty fight with 2 medical assistants. She is not having the best of days, even though she's just getting a kennel cough vaccination. Meanwhile, her owner Kimberly Moon waits in the parking lot of the only place she'll take her sweet dog. She told me it’s “Wonderful. I'd give them 10 stars if I could." Actually, it's the only place she can afford to take her: "You know, if you're on a fixed income like I am they help out wonderfully."
Inside, Clinic Director Denise Stevens told me what Options Veterinary Care is all about: "There are folks who may have some money, but they just can't afford the going rate these days at the for-profit clinics."
Options Veterinary Care opened in November, and it’s a well-equipped clinic. They say their fees are 50-60% lower, and some procedures are even less than that. Denise told me, "A dog spay probably averages around $130 here. At a for-profit hospital, $400 to $600." The goal is getting pets the medical attention they need, to keep them in their loving homes: "Over the years we watched too many people surrender their pets because they couldn't afford care."
Too many of those pets end up euthanized. Here, there are success stories. Dr. Jeffrey Pearson, one of the veterinarians at Options told me about one recent case he handled here, "a 7-month old terrier puppy who had eaten a foreign body. Its intestines were obstructed." He said a local pet hospital quoted $5000, paid in advance. "I think we did it for just under $1000, like $900 and some change, and they’re making regular payments."
As for Lulu's checkup, a clean bill of health today after all that fuss. She’s now ready to go home and relax and be catered to and loved on by mom, who laughed as she told me, "Oh my gosh she is a spoiled rotten child!”
And since veterinary costs are a common barrier to pet ownership, this just might get more 4-legged friends into homes, at a time when the rest of us could really use their company.
Options Veterinary Care also raises money for people who are just not able to pay any price for their pet’s medical procedure. It’s called the Angel Fund. To donate and find out more about the Options clinic, click the link below:
