Help to start up an affordable charity vet clinic

Hello, we are a local animal charity in Stoke Newington and we are passionate about providing care for cats and dogs in the Stoke Newington, Hackney and wider North London area.

We intend to offer standard medical services such as medical examination, diagnosis, treatment, and surgery to pets, mainly cats and dogs.

So how would we differ from other vets?

During the lockdown, vets were offering limited to emergencies only treatments which left many pets owners with intact animals which led to unwanted litters of kittens.

Shelters are already full as it is and find it very difficult to cope with the excess of requests for help. They don't have the capacity to take any more animals which results in many being turned away or in some cases euthanized at the base of their "rehomability" (behavior issues) or health issues.

Additionally, the puppy and kitten boom during the lockdown exceeded any expectations and new pet owners face long waiting lists at the local vets for basic procedures such as neutering, microchipping, and/or vaccinations. This leads to more pets reproducing and more animals in need of homes. Most vets still aren't open fully and don't accept new customers.

We are facing situations where years of hard work of animals charities and rescues dedicated to the neutering and rehoming of stray cats seem to be pointless and rescues advocating for neutering are back to square one. Kittens are having kittens and there are definitely more cats and dogs in urgent need of homes than there are homes and rescue spaces for them.

Vets don't have the capacity to accommodate the stray or unwanted cats brought to them and often are not in a position to offer a charity fee or a low-cost treatment hence many animals are not being fully diagnosed or diagnosed at all due to the financial hardship of the owners which results in not only their poor health but also suffering and death or a quick decision to put to sleep in the eventuality when the owner is not in a position to meet the vet fees.

We believe that we have a good understanding of the market, its needs, and above all a good understanding of animal welfare and animal needs.

Our main focus is on neutering the animals and not turning away animals that are stray or abandoned. We aim to offer a kennel space for stray cats until a more suitable place in a foster home or forever home is found.

Our vision is to be recognized for the standard medical practices which we offer and be the go-to clinic for all pet owners residing here in Stoke Newington and nearby areas of Hackney, North London however we will not refuse to see a pet from outside of the area.

We aim to be affordable vets and we also aim to offer a 24-hour service.

To ensure that we achieve our goal as a veterinary clinic, we intend to hire competent employees that understand the industry, love pets, and are consistent with the clinic’s vision. We will require our employees to be fully committed professionals passionate about animals, their welfare, wellbeing, and dedicated to the charity cause. We aim for the employees to have a charity background/work experience and to be well experienced in animal behavior and to know how to restrain difficult pets with no harm to themselves or the pets themselves.

We aim for the employees to be compassionate and understand that some pet owners will have to face a difficult time at the vet clinic whether dealing with a complicated diagnosis or saying goodbye to their beloved pets and we will require our employees to be able to offer comfort and support in such difficult situations.

We carry out a strictly no-kill policy and no animal will be euthanized unless is beyond veterinary help and suffering.

The pandemic has caused significant challenges for many people regarding their pets and we are passionate about helping everyone through this process and ensuring animal welfare is not compromised.

Our aim is to open an affordable vet clinic in the area of Stoke Newington. This process comes with high start-up costs. The estimated cost including but not limited to the premises rent, medical equipment, insurance, hiring the veterinary team and covering their salary until the clinic is able to generate positive cash flow among other expenses is £150.000

We hope to be able to fundraise this amount so we can secure the necessary start-up funds.