StreetVet
StreetVet is a charity made up of volunteer vets & nurses who provide free 24/7 vet care to pets of homeless across the UK.
StreetVet is a registered practice with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and has been established by a dedicated team of professional vets and veterinary nurses to provide essential veterinary care and services to the pets belonging to the homeless, nationwide.
Together the StreetVet team take their experience out onto the streets
About:
Homelessness is a growing problem in the UK and an increasing number of homeless people have dogs.
The bond between many homeless people and their dogs is profound and the health and wellbeing of these dogs is very often a major priority for their owners.
Having seen the close bond between homeless people and their dogs first hand, qualified vets, Sam and Jade, wanted to try to find a way to help out.
This started out with them going out with a stethoscope and some flea and worming treatment to give the dogs a check over and provide basic preventative healthcare.
Despite many of the pets being very well looked after and in good health, there were a few that needed further treatment.
With this in mind, Jade and Sam teamed up to create StreetVet, a veterinary led initiative that allows vets in the UK to volunteer their time to prevent and treat disease in the pets of the homeless.
StreetVet has now developed the framework to provide a free, first opinion veterinary service for homeless people across London.
They have a constantly growing team of veterinary professionals and have the close support of many drugs companies, veterinary practices, animal welfare charities, social non-profit organisations and local councils to enable us to develop the most comprehensive veterinary service possible for the homeless pet owners in London.
They have vets out in the community at least 3 days a week and everything that can be done in a consultation room, they can perform on the street.
This includes:
- medicating,
- vaccinating,
- blood sampling,
- urine analysis,
- lump sampling,
- microchipping
and more.
When they meet a dog that needs more advanced treatment, they are able to take them to one of the practices that we work at to perform procedures including:
- neutering,
- dental work,
- surgery,
- diagnostic imaging
- and even hydrotherapy.
Being vets, StreetVets love animals, but much of their day-to-day work involves caring for their owners as well.
Many of the owners that StreetVet meet are vulnerable people and one of the main benefits of having vets out on the streets is that they get to know the owners and their dogs and gain their trust.
Life on the streets makes it difficult to access the fundamental vet care required to ensure the health and vitality these dogs deserve.
StreetVets originally started in London in 2017, it has quickly grown into a support network throughout the UK.
Current StreetVet teams:
London Streetvet
Birmingham StreetVet
Bournemouth StreetVet
Brighton StreetVet
Bristol StreetVet
Cambridge StreetVet
Cornwall StreetVet
Glasgow Streetvet
Gloucester StreetVet
Lincoln Streetvet
Norwich StreetVet
Peterborough Streetvet
Plymouth StreetVet
Reading StreetVet
Southampton StreetVet
Swansea Streetvet
Along with a great network of StreatVet teams that help look after the animals, there is a great team of ambassadors that help the charity and raise its profile.
Paul O’Grady
- Paul was really impressed with the dedication of the team and want to support them to enable them to reach even more homeless people around the country.
Clare Balding
- Claire has very kindly donated her fee from a recent filming project to StreetVet. Clare is looking forward to join a StreetVet outreach to appreciate first hand what is involved.
Sue Perkins
- Sue has a long history of engagement with charitable causes and are passionate about homelessness, mental health and animal welfare.
Anna Richardson
- Anna has a long history of engagement with charitable causes and are passionate about homelessness, mental health and animal welfare.
Rory Cowlam
- Rory has been an active StreetVet volunteer since the Clapham outreach station was set up and supports the charity whole heartedly.
James Greenwood
- A small animal vet who loves being an ambassador and feels it is a way of giving back to his local community.
Contact:
Email:
Website: www.streetvet.co.uk
Address:
StreetVet
c/o Battersea Dogs and Cats Home
4 Battersea Park Road
London
SW8 4AA
