Nonprofit veterinary clinic provides medical services for pet owners in need

ARCADIA (KABC) -- Free Animal Doctor, a nonprofit veterinary clinic, provides much -needed medical services for pet owners. No one is turned away for an inability to pay.

Leah Walker is thankful for the clinic. Like many, she says the pandemic has put a strain on finances.

"After COVID it got really difficult financially and so some of the traditional veterinarians were very expensive. So we decided to look for a nonprofit, and we like supporting nonprofits," said Walker. "I think it is important when someone wants to give back through a nonprofit to try to support them, and so we found the Free Animal Doctor."

"Our mission is to raise money to pay the unexpected medical expenses for sick and injured animals whose owners can't afford that," said Sam Bernardo, President of Free Animal Doctor.

Staff say their 43-foot-long, donated bus is old and needed a place to park permanently, so the clinic could hook up to municipal services. Santa Anita Park in the San Gabriel Valley came to the rescue, providing the clinic a home, free of charge.

"We recently had this fire, the Bob Cat Fire. We served as an evacuation center, we posted food drives during the pandemic. So we're always looking for ways that we can help out in the community," said Dan Cirimele, Santa Anita Park. "And when Sam came to us with his opportunity, we've got so much property that's here as you can see, it's open space. He can park the bus and we can provide the utilities for him."