Veterinarian Graciela Guzman talked sweetly to the not-so-friendly Shar Pei called Peyton before delivering an updated vaccine into the dog’s right leg Saturday morning. Peyton never flinched and only glanced at Guzman before retreating behind his owner’s legs.
“He’s a good boy,” Guzman said about Peyton while behind the Focus Points Family Resource Center in the Elyria-Swansea neighborhood Saturday morning. Guzman then moved on to her next patient, one of 200 or more dogs that waited for medical checkups, vaccinations, and spay and neuter surgeries, all provided free of charge during a wellness clinic Saturday for pets from low-income families.
The clinic, held for the fifth year, brings in veterinarians and students from Colorado State University’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Fort Collins to help local owners who can’t afford high-cost pet care in an area with few local clinics.
“I guess you can call this place kind ofa ‘veterinarian desert,'” said Guzman, who grew up in the Elyria-Swansea and Globeville areas and returned Saturday to lend a hand during the clinic. “It’s good to do this, you can talk to the owners, get on the ground with the dogs and find out what’s really going on with them,” Guzman said. “I just like giving back to this community.”
Guzman, a Colorado State University graduate, worked hard early Saturday morning as pets and their owners quickly lined up to get inside the resource center for help.
Focus Points provides programs for the area’s residents for school readiness, adult literacy and self-sufficiency. So it only make sense the non-profit also helps the other important members of local families – their dogs and cats, said spokeswoman Allegra Mangione.
“Pets are truly part of the family and people want to take care of them so this is part of our mission as well,” Mangione said. But many can’t afford the high prices of vaccinations as well as spaying and neutering.
One caller told Mangione that her 6-year-old dog had not received any vaccinations since it was a puppy.
Demand to get into the clinic was so high that by Oct. 3, no new appointments were accepted.However, volunteers quietly allowed some walk-ins, depending on the case, organizers said.
The Dumb Friends League, Elanco animal health and Clinica Tepeyac, which provides health care to poor families, were also on site to lend help.Clinica Tepeyac clinicians and staff gave free flu shots and health screenings for humans, including blood pressure and behavioral health assessments. Also on hand were Spanish translators.
Andrea Enriquez, who grew up in the Swansea-Elyria neighborhood, was Peyton’s owner and calmed him after he got his shot. She also brought Peyton’s sister, Sophia, to the clinic to be spayed.“To get her spade and get other shots would have cost about $500,” Enriquez said. “Here they do it for free, which is such a help.”
“Many come here when the clinic opens because the people here are so nice and helpful,” she added. “It’s a low-income community and we appreciate the help, especially for our dogs.”
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