Our Services

VET SOS is an innovative outreach project which addresses the unique problems of homeless individuals with companion animals. VET SOS is a project of the Street Outreach Services (SOS) program at the San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium (SFCCC).

Our Goals

The six goals of VET SOS are to:

• Improve the health of companion animals of homeless San Franciscans
• Decrease the spread of infectous disease
• Reduce pet overpopulation
• Foster the human-animal bond
• Provide health information and referrals to homeless San Franciscans
• Champion the welfare of homeless pet guardians and their companion animals

The eight objectives of VET SOS are to:

• Provide on-site veterinary wellness exams
• Administer vaccinations
• Administer canine and feline flea/tick/mosquito preventative
• Provide on-site testing for heartworm disease, Felv, FIV, Parvo virus
• Administer anti-parasitic medications
• Distribute donated supplies such as pet food, leashes, collars, muzzles, ID tags, animal sweaters, beds, and carriers
• Provide education about responsible pet ownership
• Provide referrals and transportation for urgent care and for spay-neutering surgeries

What We Do

Services are provided by volunteer veterinarians and veterinary technicians through the use of a specially equipped mobile outreach van. VET SOS provides veterinary exams, basic veterinary procedures, vaccinations, referrals & transportation for free spay/neuter surgery, information about service animals in rental housing and responsible pet ownership, and health care information & referrals to their homeless humans.

VET SOS uses a specially outfitted van to provide its outreach and veterinary services in selected areas of San Francisco that are inhabitated by homeless individuals with companion animals. The project visits the Castro/Mission, China Basin, Golden Gate Park, Haight-Ashbury and Bayview-Hunter's Point neighborhoods on the second Friday of each month. In addition, the project provides its services at San Francisco's six annual Project Homeless Connect events in the City’s Tenderloin neighborhood, and in Golden Gate Park during Notre Dame de Namur University’s Thanksgiving Day Picnic with the homeless.

The van carries veterinary vaccinations, medications, medical charts, animal food, leashes, collars, halters, and other necessary supplies that are dispensed on site by a volunteer staff that includes one or more veterinarian/s, one or more vet tech/s, and an animal assistant. When possible, an animal behaviorist joins this team.

Why We're Needed

More than 6,500 homeless people were identified during San Francisco's 2009 biennial homeless count. VET SOS recognizes that keeping pets of the homeless healthy sustains the physical and mental well-being of their human owners. Often, these pets serve as a sole source of emotional support, promote responsibility, and act as social catalysts for interactions with other people. By combining the efforts of animal health care providers and human health care providers to reach out to this often-wary population, VET SOS builds trust, enabling further outreach and education.

Supporting the human-animal bond in homeless families also promotes public health and improves the health of the entire community. By ensuring that all companion animals are altered, VET SOS decreases pet overpopulation. By providing vaccines, parasite prevention, and routine veterinary care, VET SOS reduces the spread of infectious disease. By distributing pet food, VET SOS reduces the amount of human food fed to pets (and therefore increases the amount of food available for the human guardians).

VET SOS serves as a model, offering training opportunities to ensure that future veterinarians, vet techs, nonprofit workers, and human health care providers have the practical skills to support homeless families. Equally important, however, is the experience of being part of a collaboration that recognizes the integral connection between human and animal health, the importance of giving back to the community and supporting its most vulnerable members, and the feelings of empathy and awareness that this engenders.

Our Successes

VET SOS is the only project of its kind in San Francisco. VET SOS is truly an example of the best that can happen when California veterinarians and other community members come together to improve animal and human health.

VET SOS has proven results. During 2009 we:

• Significantly increased by 41% our free services to the companion animals of homeless San Franciscans and their humans:
  • 905 animal wellness visits were provided
  • 65 on-site tests were administered for infectious veterinary diseases
  • 661 animal vaccinations were given
  • 415 animal medications were dispensed
  • 102 animals were spayed/neutered
  • 8 animals received emergency medical transport & care
  • 900 packages of pet food &/or supplies were distributed
  • 378 flea & tick preventative treatments were administered
  • 124 animals received microchips
  • 269 homeless San Franciscans with companion animals received human health information and referrals
• Provided services at all 5 of San Francisco's Project Homeless Connect events, where homeless people and their animal companions accessed health and social services.

• Provided services in Golden Gate Park during Notre Dame de Namur University’s Thanksgiving Day Picnic.

• Participated as a partner in the San Francisco Disaster Preparedness Coalition for Animals, spearheaded by San Francisco Animal Care & Control and the Office of Emergency Services.

• Recruited 53 new volunteers, which increased our ability to serve more animals and their humans.

• Featured in 2 media pieces that expanded knowledge of work & positively addressed public perception of homeless pet ownership.

• Launched VET SOS presence on Facebook.

• Broadened funding base to grow and sustain key services. Received institutional giving from: The Thornton and Katrina Glide Foundation- $10,000; The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation- $7,500; San Francisco Veterinary Medical Association - $3,000; and Petco Foundation - $1,500.

Our Partners

The San Francisco SPCA provides VET SOS with free spay/neuter services for animals under six years of age, pet food, free short-term boarding after-spay/neuter surgery, and no-interest payment arrangements for advanced or urgent-care, provided through its community veterinary practice.

San Francisco Animal Care and Control provides VET SOS with free microchipping clinics through "Friends of AC&C," donates free DHLPP, FVRCP, and rabies vaccines, maintains a donation bin for supplies and pet food in their lobby, collaborates with VET SOS to reduce fees and prevent over-vaccination of animals by obtaining up-to-date patient records when impounded, and in special circumstances, provides emergency boarding for up to 14 days, when contacted by the appropriate authority.

Pets are Wonderful Support (PAWS) provides VET SOS with storage space and supplemental supplies of pet food to VET SOS and enrolls eligible clients for additional PAWS services, such as: discounted preventative and emergency vet care, emergency foster care, and PAWS also provides VET SOS clients free information on safe pet guidelines for immunocompromised pet owners and their physicians, and counseling and advocacy in regard to animals in rental housing and service animal licensing.

Pets Unlimited provided VET SOS with $1,000 in seed money in 2001 to launch this unique outreach program and it continues to promote and support VET SOS's high quality, effective services. Pets Unlimited also provides discounted veterinary care to clients who are referred by VET SOS.

San Francisco Veterinary Medical Association promotes VET SOS to its members who, in turn, volunteer their services as veterinarians and veterinary technicians. SFVMA provided a $1,000 grant to continue VET SOS services in 2005.

Project Homeless Connect * (PHC) is a national best practice model that originated in San Francisco under Mayor Gavin Newsom's leadership in October 2004. PHC is now implemented in 32 cities across the United States. Every other month over 1500 individual community volunteers partner with city government, nonprofits and the private sector to provide a one-stop shop of health and human services for homeless San Franciscans.
*VET SOS provides services at Project Homeless Connect.

The Friends of San Francisco Animal Care and Control (FSFACC) is the only nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds for the city's municipal, open-door animal shelter, San Francisco Animal Care and Control (ACC), and its partnering rescue groups, in order to establish or enhance programs of humane welfare, comfort and placement, public service and humane education.