Free pet vaccines attracts record crowd in Anchorage

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Hundreds of Alaskans and their furry friends flocked to Mountain View on Saturday for free pet vaccinations and food.

The organization, Friends of Pets, teamed up with Anchorage Animal Care and Control to sponsor a vaccination clinic for cats and dogs. The Normandy Project also provided free pet food at the clinic and AACA was handing out spay and neuter coupons. In addition to pet services, several groups were providing food and water to those who are low-income and homeless.

“Last spring, we heard that there were a number of dogs that died in camps because they weren’t vaccinated for parvovirus,” said Michele Girault, board president for Friends of Pets. “We wanted to do something to outreach to our community. We had a clinic in May, and then we thought we’d do another one in the fall, and obviously word got out and lots of people are here.”

The clinic opened at 11 a.m. and went until vaccines ran out, which was scheduled for 3 p.m. Organizers had to order 150 vaccines during the event because of the demand. Friends of Pets and AACA held a similar clinic in May and after such a large turnout for Saturday’s clinic, organizers said they plan on holding the vaccination events more often, possibly four times per year.

“It’s super important to make sure your pets are vaccinated,” said Joel Jorgensen, AACA community outreach manager. “If they get outside and they end up at the shelter, I mean, they’re going to be in an environment that has a lot of animals, and environment like that does have disease, especially when animals come in that aren’t vaccinated, so events like this is to help prevent it from even entering our shelter, and then just on the total hole, making sure Anchorage is covered and safe.”

Several churches and homeless outreach organizations provided food and hygiene supplies to people in line. Some had waited as long as two hours for pet vaccines. Duke Russell, who says he’s been providing food for unhoused individuals for several years, says he was invited to join the event and was happy to serve the community.

“We coordinated with the Friends of pets and APD to kind of show our support to the community today,” said Russell. “Basically it’s just some citizens get together and cooperate in mutual aid for those who are unsheltered.”

Some people traveled from as far as Seward to get their pet vaccinated.

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