Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/pets-for-life-program/

Much like food deserts in the United States, there are veterinary deserts that affect people and their ability to seed adequate veterinary care.

For those living in veterinary deserts, getting regular check-ups, vaccinations, and emergency care for their pets can be challenging.

Knowing the challenges these people face, the Humane Society of the United States wanted to come up with a solution, so they created the Pets for Life program.

The program aims to address “the inequity in and lack of access to pet resources people experience in underserved communities.”

According to the Humane Society of the United States, outreach workers with the Pets for Life program go door-to-door throughout different communities to offer free veterinary care, supplies, services and information to pet owners.

According to Denver 7, Pets for Life senior director Amanda Arrington said: “Just like there are ‘food deserts,’ there are ‘pet resource deserts’ and ‘veterinary deserts’ — and, oftentimes, the two overlap.”

Arrington added, “Just about every community in the country — whether it is urban, whether it’s suburban, rural, Native — has pockets where there are concentrations of poverty and little to no access to pet resources.”

Since its inception some 12 years ago, the Pets for Life program has helped more than 250,000 people and their pets.

You can check out the video below to see how Pets for Life is making a difference:

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To see a map of the places Pets for Life serves, you can check out their website here, and you can learn more about their program here.

Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog