Animal Emergency Care held our first free veterinary wellness clinic of the year on May 20 and June 17, 2026. We are grateful to have been invited to return for our 4th consecutive year as guests of the Lhaq’temish, also known as the Lummi Nation. Each veterinary wellness clinic events that our hospital organizes is staffed almost entirely by local veterinary professionals and animal lovers who volunteer their time and skill to make a difference.
Thanks to our outstanding volunteers, collaboration from our partner organizations, and the many caring families who stewarded their cats and dogs to and from the clinic, it was a record-breaking success! Over the course of two 5-hour events, hundreds of animals in our community received crucial veterinary care they would not have otherwise been able to access. Hundreds of pounds of food and other supplies were distributed to families in need to support animal health, safety, and enrichment. The numbers tell a fantastic story:
No-cost veterinary exams, vaccinations, and parasite prevention
Each veterinary wellness clinic is held in two sessions that occur a few weeks apart, providing multiple chances for families in the community served to have their pets seen by a team of veterinary volunteers at no cost. This also allows pets who are vaccinated during the first event to return for any needed boosters and to receive an additional month of parasite prevention and food.
Pets who attend these events are examined teams of local veterinary professionals who are volunteering their time and skill at the clinic. We’re ecstatic to report that we had the most dogs we’ve ever seen in a single event! 99 dogs attended in May, with another record-breaking 100 canine patients in one day at the follow-up event in June. That’s almost 200 dogs who received veterinary care in only 10 hours! Our volunteers examined 45 cats in May, and another 69 in June, for a grand total of 114 feline patients seen.
Each of these 313 pets received free veterinary wellness exams, and if indicated, other supportive care including vaccines and parasiticidal medication. This included core vaccinations for communicable diseases like rabies, parvovirus, panleukopenia, leptospirosis, and feline viral rhinotracheitis. Clinic patients also received preventative medication for both internal and external parasites, including fleas, ticks, and intestinal worms. Vaccinated and flea-treated pets help keep other pets (and people!) in their neighborhoods safe as well. Visit our Community Activities page to learn more about the veterinary care provided at these events.
Microchips: a ticket home
Microchips can save a lost pet’s life. A 2009 study found that of 3,425 microchipped animals entering shelters, 74% of dogs and 63% of cats reunited with their families. The median rate of lost dogs reuniting with their owners hovers just above 20%, with cats at only 2%. This means dogs with microchips were over twice as likely to return home. The cats with this form of permanent ID were dramatically more likely to get back to their humans!
With 70 pets microchipped at our clinic in May and 53 more in June, 123 local pets have a new lifeline to their families. Local animal welfare organization Whatcom Humane Society donated microchips and free microchip registration for these events.
Low-cost and no-cost spay and neuter services
Spaying or neutering a pet isn’t just about reducing pet overpopulation or preventing nuisance behavior in dogs and cats, like marking indoors. Altering a cat or dog can improve an animal’s life expectancy by reducing the chances of life-threatening illnesses like pyometra and high risk behaviors like hormonally-driven wandering reproduce, where unattended pets may become lost, ill, or injured.
However, for many households the primary barrier to spay and neuter access isn’t educational, it’s financial. Despite understanding the benefits, many pet caregivers, especially rural or low-income families, routinely identify the cost of the surgery prohibitively expensive or challenging to access geographically.
Free Veterinary Wellness Clinic partner organization, the Whatcom Humane Society, offers a low-cost spay and neuter program called SNAP for eligible applicants. Through their spay and neuter assistance program members of the Lummi Nation and Nooksack Tribe who attended the spring 2026 wellness clinic had the opportunity to register to spay and neuter their pets at no-cost, scheduling a future surgery date while on-site. The Alternative Humane Society provided vouchers to further reduce any low-cost services to no-cost.
A combined total of 38 cats and 65 dogs were signed up for spay and neuter services through SNAP. We hope they enjoy a few extra healthy years with their families.
Free pet food and supplies
Volunteers from the Alternative Humane Society distributed hundreds of pounds of cat and dog food to families in attendance. Our partner organizations and donors also made it possible to offer additional support. Families had access to a large selection of pet supplies, including harnesses, collars, leashes, carriers, and crates, as well as some brushes, beds, and toys.
A free veterinary clinic made possible by volunteers
The Free Veterinary Wellness Clinic project is volunteer-based and cannot exist without the people who believe that it should. In our 4th year as guests of the Lummi people, this project continues to prove that a small group of passionate humans who want to help can truly make a difference if they work together.
2026 Lummi Clinic Volunteers
Thank you to our incredible volunteers, who greeted, guided, examined, medicated, and otherwise facilitated a rewarding experience for everyone involved. Your gift of time and skill helped materially improve the lives of over three hundred local pets.
Community partners and sponsors
AEC extends our sincere gratitude to our community partner organizations, the Alternative Humane Society, Shadow’s Forever Friends, and Whatcom Humane Society for their contributions to the resources offered at the free veterinary wellness clinics and helping these events have such a tremendous impact. Thank you to Zoetis for generously sponsoring the vaccines and parasite prevention for all of our free veterinary wellness clinics in 2026.
Want to help?
You can be part of making Whatcom county a kinder place for pets in need. Animal Emergency Care is recruiting volunteers for the wellness clinics planned in 2026 for both Maple Falls and downtown Bellingham.
If you’re a veterinarian, LVT, vet assistant, or you’re a pet lover who would like to help with the Free Veterinary Wellness Clinic project in another capacity, please contact us.
