By Humane Pennsylvania Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr. Alicia Simoneau, DVM
Last month, something big started for pets and their caretakers in our community. Did you hear? Humane Pennsylvania’s Healthy Pets Walk-In Clinic opened its doors at the Freedom Center for Animal Life-Saving at 1801 N. 11th Street in Reading!
Humane Pennsylvania (HPA) staff had been planning the venture for quite some time, and the pandemic delayed the greatly anticipated opening of the Healthy Pets Walk-In Clinic for far too long.
The concept of the Walk-In Clinic grew out of HPA’s pioneering Healthy Pets Initiative, which provides meaningful access to veterinary care for all in need. This clinic was made possible through the visionary generosity of the Giorgi Family Foundation and Jay Rosenson, in memory of Eileen Rosenson. Their leadership is helping HPA build the best communities anywhere to be an animal or animal caretaker.
The new Freedom Center, which opened July 1, 2021, included space for the Walk-In Clinic, but it took nearly a year to come to fruition. The Walk-In Clinic features two exam rooms and a comfortable lobby at the entrance at 11th and Bern Streets.
The Walk-In Clinic adds to the continuum of access to veterinary care for Berks County and surrounding communities. Access to affordable veterinary care for every community member is central to Humane Pennsylvania’s mission. HPA has many different ways for animal caretakers to access vet care, depending on their needs: Humane Veterinary Hospitals in Reading and Lancaster, Neighborhood Pay-What-You-Can Vaccine and Microchip Clinics, and now the Healthy Pets Walk-In Clinic.
The HPA Healthy Pets Walk-In Clinic offers comprehensive preventative vaccinations, care, and advice,
without an appointment — and it’s designed to serve more community members at an affordable price point of only 60% of normal veterinary hospital rates.
Humane PA’s Healthy Pets Walk-In Clinic will be open every Wednesday and Friday, from 9 am to 1 pm. The clinic is first come, first served.
Current services offered for dogs: Exam with a veterinarian ($32, required with any other service), Vaccinations ($14-15), flea and tick preventatives ($9), deworming (starting at $9), Microchip (Free, including registration, with every exam).
Current services offered for cats: Exam with a veterinarian ($32, required with any other service), Vaccinations ($14-15), flea and ear mite preventatives ($9), deworming (starting at $9), Microchip (Free, including registration, with every exam).
At this time, no sick or injured care is provided at the Healthy Pets Wilk-In Clinic. Please contact Humane Veterinary Hospitals in Reading or Lancaster or another veterinary hospital to make an appointment for sick or injured care for your pet.
Visit humanepa.org for additional hours and to see what services will be provided in the coming months.
owners happen because the pets are microchipped and registered with up-to-date contact information.
Each microchip has a unique number, an ID number of sorts, that needs to be registered with the pet owner’s name, address, and phone number. It is important to ensure a chip is registered and information is kept up to date.
Peaches, a five-year-old spayed female pug, was surrendered to the Freedom Center for Animal Life-Saving last week after a construction worker found her onsite, wrapped in a blanket outside with small bowls of food and water. The worker brought Peaches to the Freedom Center in Berks County, where she was immediately taken in and cared for – the shelter staff made sure to check for a microchip right away as part of the surrender protocol.
challenges with her current living arrangements, she made peace knowing that Peaches was doing well and was in safe hands at the Freedom Center. Although Peaches and her owner didn’t head back home together, the closure made possible because of that microchip is why it’s so important. Think of that scene in Cast Away when the wife realizes the husband she thought she lost forever had survived the plane crash and was, in fact, alive. While life’s circumstances couldn’t allow them to be together, both found peace in knowing that the love they shared was real and they no longer had to wonder.