“She’s my best friend in the world – she’s my greatest accomplishment in life.”
This is how Gary Corbett describes his constant companion, Luna the dog, who goes wherever he goes, whether it’s living in a tent in Richmond, travelling on SkyTrain, walking in the mall or panhandling at Ironwood.
“She’s just happy to be with dad,” he told the Richmond News.
However, after Luna started limping a couple months ago, Corbett starting saving money, knowing that vet bills aren’t cheap, especially if she needed surgery.
That’s when Richmond’s homeless outreach team stepped in.
They reached out to Petsville Animal Hospital in Steveston to see if they could help out.
Coincidentally, as a locally owned Steveston business that opened a little more than a year ago, Petsville had been trying to think how they could give back to the community.
In fact, one idea was to help one homeless or low-income pet owner a month.
So, it was serendipitous when the outreach team called up, asking if they could help out.
One evening last week, Dr. Satveer Dadrwal did an examination of Luna.
In the end, he said he’s not sure if surgery is the best way to go and started her with a shot of Librela to help with arthritic pain.
Corbett said he’s feeling relief after meeting with the vet and “to finally talk to someone and get a plan in place.”
Ady Dadrwal, owner of Petsville and Satveer’s wife, said they are starting a program called “Petsville’s Helping Tails” to provide free vet services for homeless or low-income people.
“At Petsville, we believe that every pet deserves quality care and love, regardless of their owner's financial situation,” Ady said in an email.
“Pets bring joy and companionship to our lives, and through this initiative, we aim to ensure that all pets receive the essential veterinary care they need.”
She added that this is their way of the veterinary clinic to “expressing gratitude and supporting the health and well-being of the community’s pets.”
For more information on Petville’s Helping Tails, reach out to Petsville or Hugh Freiberg with Church on Five’s street outreach team at 778-987-5170.
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