Everyone finds themselves in a pinch now and then. Sometimes that pinch feels a lot more like a vice clamping down on your ability to keep heat on in the house or even to put food on the table – or in your pet’s bowl.

That’s the core reason we’re so excited about our new Howard Ash Animal Wellness Center. The Center will offer an expanded array of low-cost supportive services including spay/neuter, vaccines and basic treatments like flea prevention. And, it will allow our Chow Wagon Pet Food Bank to expand and serve more hungry pets in our region.

Our new Howard Ash Animal Wellness Center isn’t meant to add competition in the veterinary community. We are simply filling a void. Meeting an unmet need. Our experience and hands-on work in our local communities has made it abundantly clear that there are still too many limited-income pet owners who cannot afford care for their pets. And, it’s the pets who are suffering. 

We see them at our low-cost clinics grateful for basic care that will stop the itch, the pain or simply keep them healthy. 

We see them surrendered to shelters when their owners can no longer afford them and feel they are out of options. 

We see them as stray cats fending for themselves on the streets unable to stop the endless cycle of unwanted kittens. 

We see them through the exhausted eyes of those struggling to make ends meet at rural shelters and rescue groups who are drowning in the cost of medical care.

At Animal Friends we know we can do better. With the Howard Ash Animal Wellness Center – and the support of our community – we will.

While we proudly celebrated our grand opening on July 15, our Howard Ash Animal Wellness Center isn’t fully operational … just yet. We still need to make a few construction tweaks before we can begin to transfer our Low-Cost Spay/Neuter and Vaccine Clinics, Humane Investigations and Chow Wagon Pet Food Bank programs into their new home.

We hope to fully open the doors of our Howard Ash Animal Wellness Center by early September. But rest assured – we’re still proudly offering these services at our Resource Center until we make the big move!

So whether you are eagerly anticipating using our expanded low-cost services or you simply want to support a vision that ensures all pets have access to basic care, we encourage you to spread the word about our new Center. 

And, if you are able, please consider a contribution. Because as long as there are pets who are unwanted, hungry, sick or simply need a safety net, we know our work is not done.

Visit ThinkingOutsideTheCage.org/AWC for more information.