By Long Beach Animal Care Services partnered with Community Animal Medicine Project to bring an affordable and convenient low-cost vaccine clinic to Long Beach at El Dorado East Regional park on Oct. 18.
The mobile clinic was open from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and offered service to the first 60 patients.
CAMP travels year round to provide preventative care and honor the big needs for animal vaccines. They push to not only bring convenience, but also alleviate the stress from standing clinics and patients in need.
“I’ve worked at pet hospitals in the past and just saw that not everybody could afford it,” Maritza Rodriguez, manager of CAMP’s Mobile Clinic, said.
Rodriguez wants to make a difference in animals’ lives and ensure that CAMP provides high quality services to as many pets as possible. They offer low-cost vaccines as well as microchipping and spay/neuter services by appointment.
Throughout the morning, the line for the clinic expanded into the parking lot as owners and their pets waited to be treated.
Rebekah Valdez and her 1-year-old Australian cattle dog, Dodger, found out about the care services on Instagram. Valdez happened to come across the virtual flier because she follows Long Beach Animal Care Services and believes harnessing social media is the key to spreading awareness about animal care.
“We took Dodger to Petco, but I think the convenience of this clinic was that I can come not at a set time, as opposed to appointment, along with the anxiety that he would feel,” Valdez said.
Two sibling dogs waiting in line for their low cost vaccinations at the clinic. They were some of the first round of pets to be attended to. Photo Credit: Larissa Samano
CAMP strives to provide convenience to their patients by primarily taking walk-ins and by also lengthening their operating hours. The clinic offers evening hours from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., while regular clinics close by 3:00 p.m. This is done so that animal owners don’t have to worry about their work schedule conflicting with their pet’s health priorities.
The pet clinic is also offered every two weeks at different locations around Los Angeles county.
Jacqueline De Armond brought her 9-year-old Yorkiepoo, Gidget, and was pleased with the organized operations by the CAMP staff.
“I went searching last night because my vet wants to charge me $140 for three vaccines and here today, it was just $54,” De Armond said, explaining that she went on Google the night before and discovered the clinic online.
“They’re family you know… don’t give up on your pets,” De Armond said.
De Armond thanked the staff for the wonderful experience, especially with the cost of services nowadays.
CAMP offers care to residents of any county who attend their clinics, but as of now, they only travel within Los Angeles County. They are currently looking to expand into neighboring counties like Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino.
