PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A new nonprofit pet clinic has opened in far Northeast Philadelphia.
The aim of Emancipet, whose second Philadelphia location opened inside the Petsmart located by Roosevelt Boulevard and Haldeman Avenue, is to provide affordable and accessible veterinary care to all.
“When you look at just the city of Philadelphia, it’s about 500,000 pets … whose families do not always have the ability to find or afford veterinary care for their pets, so we are looking at solving that problem community by community,” said Emancipet CEO Amy Mills, whose organization began in Austin, Texas in 1999.
“We don’t think that the amount of money in your pocket should dictate whether or not you should provide health care for your family members, and pets are family.”
Mills said the new location is a walk-in clinic, where families can bring pets for vaccines or annual exams with a veterinarian.
“If you need preventive care, anything like that is not a big procedure. You can just walk in for that,” Mills said. “For surgical procedures like spay and neuter, you do have to make an appointment.“
They say vaccines cost $15, an office visit or a Heartworm test run $20, and spay and neutering costs $89.
The first Emancipet in Philadelphia opened five years ago in Lawncrest, where Hakeem Ruiz brought his dog Gucci.
“You can go in and say, ‘Hey, I’m saving $400 on my animal care,” said Ruiz. “You save a lot of money to make sure that you get quality foods for your pet and even yourself. Not only the same level of care, but a higher level of care you would pay for at a higher price.”
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Funded with a grant from PetSmart Charities, Emancipet cared for 25,000 pets last year at its Adams Avenue Vet Clinic. With the opening of this new location, the organization hopes to double its impact.
“Half of U.S. households survive on an income of less than $65,000 a year, and you can understand why unexpected veterinary expenses of hundreds [or] thousands of dollars are very challenging for folks who are already struggling trying to make ends meet, maybe experiencing food insecurity, maybe experiencing housing insecurity,” said PetSmart Charities President Aimee Gilbreath.
“This particular clinic is very focused on preventative care and spay and neuter, because if you can get some of those things treated early, they are smaller, less expensive problems than If they don’t get treated and become chronic and much larger, more expensive issues.”