World Homeless Day – The Launch of the StreetVet Website
World Homeless Day is a global initiative started in 2010. Held on the 10th October every year, it also seems like an auspicious day for the StreetVet website to go live.
StreetVet is an organisation dedicated to helping and supporting homeless people, by giving them the access to veterinary support for their pets that might otherwise be denied them. Although many other outlets of veterinary support are available, reaching these might require travel, confined spaces or other barriers to access that are insurmountable to many. StreetVet aims to conquer these issues by providing direct support, on the street, where it is needed most. The StreetVet motto is that anything that a vet can do in a consulting room, StreetVet can do on the street. Taking bloods, fine needle aspirates, urine testing, vaccinations, microchipping and full health checks are all part and parcel of a day’s work!
As co-founder Sam says,
“Being able to tell a homeless person that their dog is healthy and fit after listening to its heart with a stethoscope is a very rewarding experience for me. There is something so symbolic about the heart and giving an animal a clean bill of health gives their owner one less thing to worry about. Of course, we do meet dogs who need treatment of some sort as well and I’m so glad that we are able to offer this service for free to some of the least wealthy and most vulnerable people in society”
As you might expect, the aims of StreetVet match those of World Homeless Day in supporting the homeless through multiple outlets. As part of the programme, StreetVet aims to spread the message about homelessness, focusing on:
- Providing free of charge veterinary support to the homeless
- Educating people about homeless issues, especially regarding their pets
- Celebrating and supporting local good works, both within the veterinary support and the wider support community for the homeless
Co-founder of StreetVet, Jade, has this message;
“Seeing a homeless person and their dog on the street used to make me feel helpless as I couldn’t use my skills to support them. Creating StreetVet has changed that for me and hopefully so many other vets who I am sure can identify with that frustration. The work I do within StreetVet marks the most rewarding chapter of my career so far “
If you think StreetVet sounds like something you are interested in supporting, or if you know of someone in need, please get in touch via the website.
For more information on World Homeless Day, and to look for events near you, please visit www.worldhomelessday.org
