Emancipet adds 3rd weekly mobile clinic day in Austin

The city contract covers Austin residents specifically, with proof of residency required but no income verification, according to Katon.

Free Day services—including spay and neuter surgeries, microchips and rabies vaccines—are available to city of Austin and Travis County residents, per Emancipet's website. Other services range from $5-$25 with office visit fees waived for Travis County residents attending a free day clinic.

All mobile clinic services are first come, first served, with no appointments offered, and surgery spaces are not guaranteed, Katon said. Those in line when the mobile clinic reaches capacity receive a voucher for a free spay or neuter at a brick-and-mortar location, she said.

For information on arrival time, restrictions and surgery preparation or to see the mobile clinic schedule, visit www.emancipet.org/austin-mobile-clinic.

By the numbers

Emancipet has operated a mobile clinic for 26 years, and its relationship with the city of Austin spans more than two decades, Katon said. Counting the mobile clinic, the organization runs 11 clinics total, six of them in Central Texas, and serves about 275,000 animals a year systemwide, according to Katon.

A typical day on the mobile clinic serves about 130 animals combined across spay, neuter and wellness services, including roughly 30 spay and neuter procedures and up to 100 wellness visits, according to Katon.

The extra day could allow Emancipet to perform roughly 2,000 additional spay and neuter procedures over the three-month span, she said, though it depends on individual animal needs.

Across all 11 clinics, Emancipet performs about 60,000 spay and neuter procedures each year, she said.

The impact

Affordable veterinary care helps reduce shelter intake in two ways: it allows owners facing cost barriers to keep their pets, and it lowers the lifetime cost of pet ownership from an estimated $8,000 to $25,000 at market rate down to $2,000 to $3,000 through Emancipet, Katon said.

She also pointed to Austin's pet ownership rate, which she estimated at 78% to 82%, among the highest of any major U.S. city, as evidence that affordable care broadens who can take on pet ownership.

"We always provide low-cost care," she said. "We're one of the lowest-cost providers around.”

What's next

Whether the third clinic day continues beyond September depends on the city's budget, Katon said, deferring further detail to city officials. Animal Services said the department will reassess after the next FY budget is approved.