KINGSVILLE, Texas —
Texas A&M University-Kingsville's veterinarian technology program has partnered with the Texas Veterinary Medical Foundation to provide free preventative care to pet owners who need it most.
It's called Lending Economic Assistance to Pets, better known as the LEAP program. It's meant to provide wellness services to pets whose owners are considered economically disadvantaged.
A visit from the Texas A&M University-Kingsville's veterinary technology team is one that pet owner Margie Orozco has come to expect often.
She has three dogs; Gorda, Missy and a three-month-old chihuahua named Daisy.
“I love my dogs,” Orozco said. “They’re like my babies.”
3NEWS followed Daisy as TAMUK’s Veterinary Tech LEAP team took her to receive her boosters and a physical exam, at no charge to her owner.
“In an effort to help the community, we start by helping their pets. We provide annual vaccines and flea and heartworm preventatives that way they're set for the year,” veterinary resource manager Lilliana Palomo said. “We also just started with puppies, so we see them monthly for their boosters."
After their vaccinations and exams, all pets whose owners qualify for the LEAP Program are sent home with a free year supply of flea, tick and heartworm preventatives.
"It's recently opened up to where if you have SNAP food stamps, if you have WIC, that kind of thing, it's kind of become a 'Yes, we can help you’," Palomo said.
While the LEAP program is extremely beneficial for the pets and their owners, veterinarian and assistant professor of professional practice, Dr. Cariann Galloway it also does a lot of good for the university's vet tech students.
"It not only gives our students more hands-on experience with animals but also allows them practice by interacting with clients, helps to strengthen their client communication skills, and then it also provides the animals in the community a very much needed service,” Galloway said. "It's really important care to get these vaccines and these regular heart worm preventatives and tick medications that they otherwise would not be able to receive.”
If you live in Kleberg County and would like to see if you qualify for the LEAP program, you can send an email to vettleap@tamuk.edu or call 361-593-4688.