Disclaimer

The content of this blog reflects my personal experiences and opinions during my veterinary school education. It does not reflect the experiences or opinions of my classmates, colleagues, or the UC Davis School of Veterinary medicine. If you wish to contact me via email: hamaleo11@gmail.com

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Volunteering at VET SOS in San Francisco

The morning began early for the VET SOS crew. They loaded up their medical supplies and appeared at the Plaza behind the San Francisco City Hall wedged between the Bill Gram Civic center and the Asian Art Museum. I met them at 9AM and helped put the tents up to shelter the volunteers and animals that would be coming through the clinic that day. As soon as the tents were up and the medical supplies unloaded, we brought patients in to be seen by the veterinarian.

The organization, VET SOS is an organization offering veterinary services to pets of the homeless in San Francisco.  It was a great opportunity to see a similar program to the Mercer Veterinary Clinic for the Homeless in Sacramento. I learned a lot about their clinic and how they run their show. They have several clinics each month in different areas of San Francisco and offer veterinary services to the homeless pet population.
http://markrogersphotography.com/pets/links/
I got paired up with Dr. Durfee who has been a long-standing volunteer at VET SOS. We made a great team tackling many different cases. We saw both cats and dogs and were even handed a SNAKE to examine! I enjoyed working with Dr. Durfee very much and he had a lot of knowledge to share having been in practice for over 50 years as a veterinarian. 

A Rainbow Boa Snake that came in for a health certificate
This particular VET SOS clinic was paired with Project Homeless Connect, offering a variety of other free services to the homeless of San Francisco (Eye, Dental, Medical care, food, etc.).

For more information or if you would like to donate: VET SOS Website