Slavic Village Nonprofit Is Serving Cleveland’s Low-Income Pet Owners

No matter how much love is felt towards a family dog or cat, whenever someone finds themselves in financial despair, the animal is often first to go. Hopefully it involves going to a shelter but the reality is that’s the best-case scenario.

For years Friends of the Cleveland Kennel have helped owners keep pets in their homes through affordable pet care, resources and education. But recently the nonprofit took a major step forward. On October 8, the Neighborhood Pets Outreach & Resource Center opened its Slavic Village doors to help low-income pet owners. The Center’s number is 216-505-5853.

CoolCleveland talked to Friends of the Cleveland Kennel executive director Becca Britton about the new location and its impact in the community.

Tell us about the Neighborhood Pets Outreach & Resource Center.  

We’re located in the Slavic Village. We have a storefront and the programming is geared towards low-income pet owners in Cleveland with the idea of providing affordable and accessible basic pet care. So everything here is basically priced at our cost. Flea meds, microchips and vaccines are $5 each. We also have free ID tags and do free exams. We got a grant to provide for free spaying and neuter for dogs and cats. We have low-cost pet supplies here, and we also have an emergency food bank. Every client who comes in can sign up for a free membership.

How did you end up in the Slavic Village?

We chose the location of Slavic Village because the intake numbers at Cleveland Animal Control are the highest in the two zip codes that cover Slavic Village (44105 and 44127). That’s the most in the city next to 44102 and Kinsman/Central community in regards to loose dogs.

How long has the Center been on your radar?

We’ve been planning this for quite some time. About six years ago we started doing free wellness day events in Cleveland in high-need neighborhoods. We worked with Cleveland City Council and the CDC. We basically set up shop for a few hours doing free vaccines and wellness checks, spay and neuter vouchers and meds. People would come by the hundreds with their dogs. Most of them had never been to a vet.

We did that for five years and realized what a need it was. We thought about making it a more sustainable program. Each event cost about $15,000 apiece and required 150 volunteers to make it happen. So we came up with this plan to have a permanent sustainable program and locate it in a high-need neighborhood available to all Cleveland residents. We actually worked with the Slavic Village Development Corporation and a grant from Citizens Bank, which provided rent for us for a year to get off the ground. The goal of the program is to increase pet retention so the animals do not end up at the local shelter.

Even though the Neighborhood Pets Outreach & Resource Center only opened earlier this fall, what kind of impact have you had on the community?

Oh my gosh. We’re only open three days a week to the public and we already have more than 200 members. We’ve serviced more than 100 animals with our food bank so far. These are people who literally don’t have pet food. Before that they were just feeding them leftovers. We have held four vaccine clinics, and we’ve vaccinated probably 60 animals. We had our very first free spay and neuter day fixing 16 dogs.

What kind of response have you received from the charitable, pet-loving community in Northeast Ohio?

This is a unique cause. I see it as the best of both worlds because you’re hopefully getting donations from people who care about other humans as well as people who care about other animals. We have raised $10,000 so far from retail sales, vaccine clinic revenue and donations. That’s phenomenal. We weren’t really sure of the public’s perception but so far the response has been totally positive. Everyone says the same thing, “Oh my God, we’ve needed something like this for so long. It’s great.”

Looking ahead, is expansion in the cards?

That’s the goal. Right now we’re hoping to perfect this model so we can sustain it. The overhead costs are very low so we’re looking to perfect this and put it in another high-need neighborhood. Ideally further east in Cleveland and then one on the near west side. Our mission is everyone deserves to have a right to care for their animal in a responsible way. And currently the way Cleveland and our resources are set up, that doesn’t exist for anyone who doesn’t have basically a middle-range income. Even myself, I have a hard time with it. Vet care is very expensive. I just want everyone to understand there are a lot of people that need help and they have every right to access low-cost affordable care for their companion animals. Our operation relies mostly on donations of supplies, food and funds, so hopefully we can create a sustainable donor base. That way we can continue this program and expand it.

The phone number for Neighborhood Pets Outreach & Resource Center is 216-505-5853.

neighborhoodpetscle

[Written by John Benson]

Cleveland, OH 44105

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