Blog | Keeping People and Pets Together: Stories from Hamilton Pet Health Outreach Clinics

Kevin Executive Assistant to the Chief Happiness Officer (Dog)

If you’re a pet owner, you don’t need to know the emerging science behind the “human-animal bond” to know it’s real and it’s powerful. The way your cat gives you a head boop when you wake up in the morning, or how your pup makes eye contact with you and rests his paw on your lap when you’re having a bad day - our pets bring joy to our lives and lift our spirits in so many ways.

The role of the human-animal bond is the backbone to much of the community medicine and pet health outreach work being done here in Hamilton. This bond is a mutually beneficial relationship between humans and their pets, with positive impacts related to mental, physical and social health of both the people and their pets.

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As an animal welfare organization, serving the Hamilton community for over 137 years, our role is to maximize the potential of this mutually beneficial relationship between Hamiltonians and their pets by promoting the health and well-being of our beloved furry friends in the community.

Healthy pets and well-educated dedicated pet parents with community resources available to them means that the chances of people and their pets being able to stay together are significantly increased. This also means less pet surrenders to the shelter and more space in our kennels for those who need it most.

Did you Know?

The most common reason pet parents bring a pet to a clinic is for vaccines and to get access to our low-cost spay/neuter bookings.
Cats and Dogs are our most commonly seen patients at wellness clinics, and we see about a 50/50 split of each. We even see the occasional rat, ferret or rabbit.
The most common ailment we see amongst pets at wellness clinics are ear and skin infections. Recently, wellness exams have also led to follow up appointments for amputations, entropion surgeries and many hernia repairs!
Between 2023 and 2024, the HBSPCA experienced a 45% increase in the number of pets served at wellness clinics - this is in part due to an expansion of our services due to fundraising and grants, as well as a drastic increase in need from the community.

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The Impact of Pet Health Outreach Clinics in our Community

The Hamilton/Burlington SPCA is fortunate to have a number of host locations across the city, allowing us to bring our veterinary teams out into the community to serve those in need. These are just a few stories about the impact of these clinics on the people and pets who have accessed these clinics in recent months.

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Meet Tammy (and Phantom, Lori, Tigger & Mylo)

Tammy and her partner brought their two dogs and two cats to a recent wellness clinic at Mission Services. ALL FOUR pets waited so patiently for their turn to see our Veterinary team and each pet was a rockstar about their examinations and vaccinations. Tammy is a dedicated pet Mom, who asked many questions to our veterinary team; wanting to give them the best care possible. Tammy shared that the cost of care at a regular private practice Veterinary Hospital would have been a barrier to her. She stated that the 1:1 time to ask questions to Dr. Farr gave her peace of mind that Phantom, Lori, Tigger and Mylo were all happy and healthy (and vaccinated!)

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Meet Bill & Scooby

We see a lot of animals in the community every day, and it’s hard NOT to love Scooby. We’ve seen Scooby a few times at various clinics in the downtown core, but on this day, at our wellness clinic at Mission Services, we got to know a little bit more about Scooby and his guardian, Bill.

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You see, Scooby is a senior guy with a Mom who loves him dearly. Facing homelessness and living in tents, she reached out to her friend Bill to see if he could take care of Scooby for the short term until she was back on her feet. Bill agreed, and they have been ‘co-parenting’ in a sense ever since. This senior boy is in good hands with his bestie, Bill. He’s up-to-date on his vaccines and Bill was able to grab him some of his favourite soft food from our mobile pet pantry while they waited for their appointment!

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Meet Ozzy & his Dad, Robert

Ozzy's family brought him to an HBSPCA wellness clinic back in October because they were worried that he wasn't gaining any weight and that he might have parasites. They also hoped that Ozzy could receive a microchip. Ozzy was quickly seen by our Veterinary team and examined head to toe by Dr. Farr, who determined that there was no concern for parasites and made sure that Ozzy got a very good ear cleaning.

Ozzy goes everywhere with his Dad, Robert and is an integral part of their day to day life and joy. In fact, Ozzy was neutered through the HBSPCA’s low-cost spay/neuter program shortly after his clinic appointment.

"These programs are so helpful for people who are on disability, not only in saving the cost of care but also bringing the programs directly to our neighbourhoods" - Ozzy's Dad, Robert.

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Want to get involved in HBSPCA Wellness Clinics?

You can learn more about how to become a host location for clinics, how to register your pet for an upcoming clinic, or how you can sign up to volunteer or donate to a clinic by visiting our Pet Health Outreach page.

To get connected right now, contact the Hamilton/Burlington SPCA at 905-574-7722.

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