CLEVELAND — "Come here sweet angel! Let's go get your weight."
Cleo, a young black kitty — free of "cattitude" — is a model patient on this morning. Her appetite is good, but the cat's owner worries she's too thin.
"Cleo weighs 6 pounds, 8 ounces."
Cleo isn't the only patient getting checked over. Lightning the German Shepherd and Luca, a Mastiff, are here too.
We're not assembled in a routine veterinary clinic for these exams, rather community space on Cleveland's east side. Under the circumstances, the space is the next best thing.
"Project CARE is our Community Animal Retention Effort. That's what CARE stands for," said Sharon Harvey, President and CEO of the Cleveland APL. She describes it as a "boots on the ground grassroots effort in a one-square-mile neighborhood that we through [geographic information system] mapping had identified as being a very high area of intake for our shelter and the Cleveland Kennel."
Thanks to a $100,000 incubator grant from PetSmart Charities, the Cleveland APL is addressing a major problem facing many loving pet owners: lack of accessible veterinary care in historically excluded communities.
"They love their pets, but they don't always have access to transportation. They don't always have access to broadband and the ability to connect to the internet," Harvey explained. "They may not even have access to a grocery store nearby where they can buy pet food. So it's a resource desert for pet owners. There are no veterinary clinics, there are no pet supply stores."
Project CARE goes into targeted areas to meet pets and their owners where they live.
The team is focused on not just treating, but building relationships within those targeted zip codes.
Outreach can go beyond medical care. Services currently offered to project CARE area residents include:
- Low-cost spay/neuter (those outside of the Project CARE target area may be eligible to schedule with the Community Pet Clinic)
- One-time emergency medical assistance through our Peticaid program (restrictions apply)
- Low-cost flea treatment/preventative
- Counseling help with behavioral and medical needs and general care guidance
- Resource referrals to other programs
- Emergency assistance with pet food on as-needed basis
It can include emergency assistance with pet food, low cost supplies and resource referrals to other programs.
"Part of our goal here is to not only be a resource to people in these communities so they can provide the care they need and want for their pets, but also to not have them reach a day where they ever think about surrendering their pet," said Harvey.
If you are interested in learning more about Project CARE or becoming a volunteer for the program, please get in touch with our teams via e-mail projectCARE@clevelandapl.org or call 216-255-5022.
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