Others will patiently wait hours to receive preventative or curative care. One Saturday a month, about 10 UCD students and two or three vet school doctors volunteer at the clinic, seeing up to 50 patients in a four-hour period. They provide basic care, testing, vaccinating, treating minor wounds and infections and distributing supplies like food, collars, leashes and flea medication. All of the services are free to the homeless, and the clinic survives on donations and volunteers. Because services are free, the clinic requires that clients sign a statement confirming that they are homeless.
Clinicians also stress the importance of helping to control the pet population.
If clients wish to bring their animals in for a second visit, they must be spayed or neutered. Clients can arrange for an appointment with a local veterinarian for the service, which is free to pets of homeless people. Mercer pays for the service, which is provided by the vets at a reduced cost. Clinicians say the bond between homeless people and their pets goes beyond ordinary pet-owner relationships. They give their animals whatever medicine we give them and come back religiously.