Community Vets, Braeside to provide affordable animal care for pets
A SICK animal can cost the best part of a month’s salary for most pet owners, but a group of vets in Melbourne’s southeast has set up a clinic to provide the best of care without the extravagant price tag.
Inner South
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THREE vets have stepped up to provide affordable animal care following the closure of a popular clinic.
Nicky Berg, David Freeman and David Bell and vet nurse Donna Lindsay established Community Vets in Braeside after a clinic attached to the Australian Animal Protection Society shut up shop in April.
It had been operating for 30 years, providing affordable vet care to those with reduced or no income.
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It closed when the society relocated to Dandenong South to make way for a new school.
“Some of the vets employed there felt very strongly that people, such as pensioners, single parents and the unemployed would no longer be able to afford treatment for their pets,” Dr Berg said.
“There are a lot of jobs for experienced vets but we felt compelled to help the people who had relied on the welfare clinic for so many years.”
Dr Berg said they had received a lot of support from other vets with donations of equipment and supplies.
“It helped us set up without having to spend a lot, which in turn meant we could offer lower prices for our services,” she said.
Dr Berg said while the clinic was designed to help people with little or no income, everyone was welcome.
They also support the Pets in the Park program, which provides free vet care for the homeless.
It is offered on the last Sunday of the month in Frankston and Dr Berg volunteers her services.
She said last week a young man with his dog had told her how he’d been suicidal and his dog had given him a reason to keep going.
“Conversations like that bring home just how important pets are to people and the difference they can make.”
The new clinic is at unit 16, 238 Governor Rd, Braeside.
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