Second Chance Animal Services receives $150,000 ASPCA grant for mobile veterinary unit

The new Community Support Vehicle brings low-cost preventive and basic veterinary care directly to pets and families facing transportation and financial barriers

By Charlene Arsenault

Ready to hit the road: The new Second Chance Community Support Vehicle, parked outside the North Brookfield hospital. The mobile unit was made possible by a grant from the ASPCA to help bring veterinary care to pets and families in need.

Second Chance Animal Services has received a $150,000 grant from the ASPCA to help purchase a mobile veterinary unit that will expand access to care for pets and families across the region.

The new Community Support Vehicle will allow Second Chance veterinary teams to bring preventive and basic care directly into communities, reaching pet owners who may have difficulty traveling to a veterinary hospital or affording traditional services.

The vehicle will be used at low-cost vaccine clinics across Massachusetts and will also support the organization’s Homebound to the Rescue program, which provides low-cost or no-cost veterinary care in senior and low-income communities.

“Access to veterinary care should never depend on a family’s ability to travel or overcome transportation barriers,” said Sheryl Blancato, chief executive officer of Second Chance Animal Services. “We are incredibly grateful to the ASPCA for this generous investment.”

Blancato said the vehicle will allow Second Chance to provide basic care on the road while connecting animals that need more advanced treatment with the organization’s hospitals.

“Together, these services help keep pets healthy, with the families who love them, and out of shelters,” she said.

Second Chance has provided community-based veterinary outreach for more than 16 years. The organization said the new vehicle is expected to triple its capacity to bring clinics into underserved neighborhoods and help pet owners before a lack of care becomes a crisis.

That early intervention can be especially important for seniors, people with disabilities and low-income families who may deeply love their pets but struggle to reach or pay for veterinary services. By bringing care closer to home, Second Chance hopes to prevent unnecessary pet surrenders and keep more animals with the people who love them.

“Lack of access to affordable veterinary care is among the top reasons families are forced to make the heartbreaking decision to relinquish their pet to a shelter,” said Karen Walsh, vice president of animal relocation at the ASPCA.

Walsh said the ASPCA was honored to support Second Chance’s work expanding veterinary access and helping animals remain healthy and in loving homes.

The ASPCA has provided more than $250 million in grant funding to animal shelters, rescue groups, government agencies and other organizations nationwide since 2001.

More information about Second Chance Animal Services is available at secondchanceanimals.org.