Volunteer vets provide free health care for pets belonging to the homeless

A stray dog.
(Image credit: iStock)

Los Angeles County has an estimated 58,000 homeless people, and it's believed that 20 percent have a pet of some kind. Due to the cost, many of those dogs, cats, and other animals have never seen a vet before, but on Wednesday, a group of volunteer veterinarians and technicians set up a pop-up clinic at the Frank Rice Access Center in downtown Los Angeles and offered their services free of charge.

"It's amazing to see," one volunteer told ABC 7. "You know, a lot of these people would rather feed their dogs than feed themselves. And it's really sad but at the same time amazing. And I feel like half of these people are alive because of their animals."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.