Vets to help care for homeless people’s pets

Rachael McGregor and Laura Du Pre

A team of our vets are set to take to the streets of Huddersfield to provide much-needed free care for homeless people’s pets.

Our staff will visit the on-street soup kitchen in the West Yorkshire town on Tuesday March 20 to support the homeless and their companion animals.

As part of our Calder in the Community initiative, the staff will be on hand to provide a full health check, any medication or pain relief which is required, along with treatment for infections, ticks, fleas and worms.

It’s not the first time the Calder team has provided support to Huddersfield’s homeless – they were on hand to spread some festive cheer at Christmas after packing 11 rucksacks with essentials and gifts to hand out around the town, as well as 25kg of food, treats, blankets and towels for dogs.

The initiative is being led by Laura Du Pre and Rachael McGregor, lead veterinary surgeons at Calder’s Dewsbury and Denby Dale practices.

Laura said: “There is often a very close bond between homeless people and their pets. They’re a friend and a companion animal in every sense.

“We know how much these animals mean to their owners, so we are delighted to be able to offer our support in this way.

“The concept of street vets is a growing one, particularly in London due to the work of the Street Vet charity. We want to bring some of that goodwill to the streets of Yorkshire.”

Staff at Calder are appealing for the help of keen knitters to support the project, by knitting blankets for homeless people and their pets.

Anyone who can help can drop a blanket in to any of Calder’s branches in Dewsbury, Wakefield, Mirfield, Sandal, Huddersfield, Brighouse, Horbury, Tingley, Denby Dale, Penistone and Waterloo.