A growing resource is helping educate pet owners in South L.A., while providing fully subsidized pet services to thousands of dogs and cats.
Increasingly, awareness regarding the lack of resources in urban communities has spread across the country. While most of the news and information on the subject deals with the lack of healthy food options available in low-income environments, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) Spay/Neuter Clinic has positioned itself as a community resource for local cat and dog owners.
“There was a sort of resource desert in South LA and it made sense to see how we could give back to the community,” said Aimee Christian, vice president of Spay/Neuter operations at the ASPCA.
As a result, the ASPCA decided to open up a virtually free clinic in the South L.A. Animal Care Center to help residents take better care of their pets.
Before the ASPCA’s program came to be, Christian notes that the closest full-subsidized pet care services were located in Mission Hills, California, nearly an hour away from certain parts of South L.A.
According to Christian more than 50% of residents need transport, so the program, which made its debut April 2014, offers free transportation to and from the clinic.
The program, which offers free services such as spay and neuter, microchips, flea and tick medication, as well as rabies and distemper vaccines, has been gaining traction since its April 2014 inception through a community outreach effort.
“We had a slow start, which we anticipated,” Christian said. From April to December of 2014 the clinic saw about 3500 dogs and cats, but this year the ASPCA anticipates that it will see about 10,000 dogs and cats.
The dramatic spike in numbers seems to be a direct result of getting out there and building trust with South L.A. residents, Christian said.
“We don’t just ring doorbells and pass out flyers,” she said. “We wanted people to hear about our services and become ambassadors.”
By working with local residents the community advocates have been able to build trust amongst many South L.A. residents and news of the program eventually spread via word of mouth, as well.
“It’s really wonderful to be a resource for these animals but also for their owners,” Christian said.
Often, the community advocates meet residents who don’t even realize that they might need the ASPCA’s help.
“Most of the animals we’ve seen don’t have a regular veterinarian,” Christian said.
The spay/neuter clinic is located at 1850 West 60th street and operates Tuesday through Saturday, beginning at 7am on a first come first serve basis.
