“If you know us, you understand how much we love pets, said Michelle Dormady, PRCKC founder and CEO. “But loving pets – and helping them – is also how we care for the people in our community.”
And that’s right. If you have a dog or a cat (or a donkey named Jack, for that matter), you understand the power of that friendship. How it calms and heals. How it keeps you connected to that which all humans require to live … the love of another being.
As Chris, one of our outreach team said the other day, we care for people by caring for their pets. And, Alejandro, who works at the front desk, mirrored a similar sentiment when he said that his work here helps him support the community he cares about, which includes both pets and people.
In these times …
Being present and helping right now is more important than ever. And, sure, we try to be kind, compassionate and supportive all year long no matter what is happening. It is, after all, why we exist.
“But loving pets – and helping them – is also how we care for the people in our community.” – Michelle Dormady, PRCKC founder and CEO
But Dr. Jess, our chief veterinarian, has read about people driving from one vet clinic to the next trying to get help for their pet. The sad part is, with things being as different as they are now, many clinics are overwhelmed. They simply have no more capacity to provide assistance of any kind.
Shortly after we shut down in the spring, we re-imagined how we’d do business after we reopened. That meant repurposing our parking lot into a waiting room. It’s just that people bring their own chairs to this waiting room. And those chairs happen to be bolted into a car or truck. Space gets a bit tight sometimes, as you can imagine.
When we re-opened there were bumps and, if we’re honest, there still are. Because check-in is handled by phone and there are only so many phone lines and people who can answer those phones, it can take time. Too, with each person checking their pet in by phone and then a runner going to bring each pet in individually for surgery, vaccines, or for a medical reason, people are waiting longer than we’d like. Sometimes, it’s longer than they’d like, too.
But here’s the deal. We’re busy and things can get hectic (two overheating dogs or a cat hit by a car being dropped in our clinic in the middle of the day, for instance). And that means sometimes there is a wait.
Our promise
We know it can get hot (or soon, cold) outside. We also know it can be trying to wait when you’ve got places to be. But here’s what we want you to know.
- We’re here to help any- and everyone, regardless of their situation, background or financial standing.
- Though sometimes there is a wait, our promise is to keep moving as fast as we can while also making sure we keep you, our staff and our volunteers safe while every pet also gets the care he or she needs and deserves.
- We believe in great customer service for everyone because we believe that the only way forward for our community is through love and kindness.
We mean it when we say, while you are here, your pet – and you, too – will get our full attention, our compassion, and the best customer service this side of Mars.
It might be hard out there in the big wide world, but our promise is that it’ll never be that way here.
