The Mercer Veterinary Clinic, which provides homeless and indigent people with free veterinary care and preventive medicine, received the 1998 AVMA Humane Award. Veterinary student Eileen Hopper, clipboard in hand and clad in blue scrubs, moves along the line of arriving clients outside the Mercer Veterinary Clinic for the Homeless in downtown Sacramento. To use the free clinic, clients are required to sign an affidavit that they are homeless and must have their animals spayed or neutered in order to be seen again. There is no cost to them for the surgery, which is done at a local veterinary clinic. We also have a lot of community volunteers, and at each clinic there are from one to three licensed veterinarians from both the local community and UC Davis, who volunteer their services.
Hopper continues down the line and steps around two puppies curled up on the sidewalk.
The Mercer Clinic, a non-profit organization, began in 1992, when UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine students Randy Singer and Dori Borjesson modeled it after a similar operation in Seattle. Countless other students have been involved in nurturing and maintaining the clinic. The clinic has become much more than we ever envisioned in terms of persistence and breadth of services. Support for the clinic comes from donations by individuals, foundations, corporations and organizations such as the Sacramento Valley Veterinary Medical Association. Manufacturers such as Hills, IAMS and Purina donate pet food, and some supplies are donated or discounted by distributors.