TULSA, Okla. — Pet owners lined up in Tulsa to get their dogs vaccinated against distemper and parvo this afternoon.
This after the Tulsa animal shelter was forced to close because of a distemper outbreak in early November.
Cars were lined up down one block and wrapped around another as pet owners and their dogs eagerly waited for an opportunity to get a free distemper vaccine.
“It’s just awesome. It’s an awesome thing they are doing in the community,” said Tonya Newton who brought her dogs to be vaccinated.
The Oklahoma Alliance for Animals says they decided to offer the clinic after a distemper outbreak at the Tulsa animal shelter.
“I think they have that under control now," said Jamee Suarez the President of Oklahoma Alliance for Animals. "However, there is a lot of dogs out there that probably still contracted the distemper disease. So, we decided to put this clinic on to give an opportunity to people who couldn’t otherwise afford this.”
She says a distemper vaccine generally costs about $15 per pet.
One pet owner with five dogs tells us that can add up and she just wants to protect her pets.
“My neighbor's dog had like ringworm, and they had puppies that ended up passing away," Newton said. "I want to keep them safe because they go inside and outside.”
Providing these vaccines is not only helping pet owners but also providing relief to the vet clinics.
“A lot of the vet clinics are very leery about taking any of the animals that are coming off the streets because they don’t know if it’s going to affect their customers and their pets so they have to be very cautious about any animals that are being taken in right now,” said Suarez.
The alliance is hoping to hold more of these drive up distemper vaccine clinics in other areas of Tulsa but wanted to see how this clinic went first.
We’ll let you know when they schedule more.
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