Last week provided a flurry of activity for the Brownsville Animal Regulation and Care Center when Rally For The Valley brought free spay/neuter clinics, core vaccinations and microchipping for dog and cat owners in McAllen, Harlingen and for the first time Brownsville from Jan. 26 to the 30th.
Rally For The Valley is an annual event by Animal Balance, an international nonprofit that seeks to help increase access to preventative care and spay/neuter programs to keep animal communities healthy.
As part of the event, BARCC joined a partnership with the Humane Society of Harlingen and RGV Low Cost Spay Neuter Clinic to provide services across the Rio Grande Valley.
2022 marks the first year that Brownsville has participated in the event due to the work of Jacqueline Hernàndez, the new Assistant Public Health Director at BARCC.
According to Hernandez, one of the things she would often hear about in her job is the ever-present need in the city for access to low-cost or free spay and neuter programs for pet owners.
If there’s one thing Hernandez is passionate about—it’s finding resources for her community. Best Friends Animal Society granted them an $85,000 minimum grant to bring Animal Balance in and get veterinarians and veterinary technicians to make the event possible in the city. Petco Love also provided grant assistance to the event to help increase the number of vaccinations possible.
After advertising the event three weeks before the start so dog and cat owners could make their appointments, the response to the event was immediate. Within 24 hours, said Hernandez, the event’s 300 spay and neuter appointment slots filled up; after 48 hours, the 400 vaccine appointments were gone as well.
To Animal Balance staff, the quick response was a welcome surprise.
“We knew that the services are needed here; we just didn’t anticipate that quick of a response. It’s great to see that when the resources are made available—people jump at the opportunity,” Elsa Kohlbus, Program Director for Animal Balance, said.
“A lot of times in areas where there are high intake shelters and where there are a lot of free-roaming animals, people are under the impression that the community doesn’t care about animals. We know that’s not true. We know that the people in these cities love their companion animals,” she said.
The problem is the barriers to access the resources needed for pet owners, which often leads to that wrong impression.
While the event was a success for those with an appointment, Hernandez knows that increasing access is key. She’s already trying to find other ways to bring more resources to the area— that way, residents don’t have to wait for the next Rally For The Valley.
“We are also trying to come up with creative ideas and on the lookout for grants and ways to bring, not only Animal Balance back, but just resources in general to our community,” Hernandez said.
She hopes that they can provide other opportunities for pet owners in Brownsville sooner; rather than later.
