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On Saturday, May 12, Gateway Pet Guardians hosted a Community Pet Day in Village of Cahokia Park where 110 pets received free rabies and distemper/parvo vaccinations. In years past, we have hosted our clinics at Jones Park and Lincoln Park in East St. Louis, IL. But this year, decided to move our clinic to another park in our service area.

The location change was sparked by St. Clair County Animal Control statistics, indicating need for additional resources to help keep pets in their homes and out of the shelter. In 2017, 34% of total pets surrendered by their owners (including cats, dogs, puppies, and kittens) from the East Side Health District were from Cahokia. We thought to ourselves—what can we do to address this statistic? Thanks to a grant from Best Friends Animal Society, we are targeting our services in Cahokia with the goal of fixing 100 pets from the 62206 zip code this year. Our hope is that by eliminating unwanted litters and bringing resources directly to the community we serve, we can cut back on the number of unwanted animals entering the shelter from this area.

We kicked off our mission by hosting a vaccination clinic in Village of Cahokia Park. We spent three weeks canvassing the neighborhoods nearby, inviting families to our vaccination clinic. We had an incredible turn-out and vaccinated 110 pets. After the clinic, we called every single family that attended to offer free spay/neuter surgeries. To date, we have over 60 pets waiting to receive these services from Cahokia!

We would like to thank everyone who made the clinic possible—from the volunteers, to the veterinarians and vet techs, to the families that attended with their pets. We are also thankful to Village of Cahokia for welcoming us with open arms and allowing us to use their park.

Learn more about our Community Programs, and check out some of the incredible photos from the clinic by clicking the links below:

Family Portraits | Cahokia Vaccination Clinic

Candids | Cahokia Vaccination Clinic