Pets are important to so many people, but possibly none more than Dr. Paula Haraway.
That’s why Haraway is opening Sequoyah Animal Advocates Wellness Clinic, “a new veterinary wellness clinic created to provide affordable, compassionate wellness care for pets.”
Haraway will be joined by her daughter, Katie Napier, at the clinic.
“What makes this clinic special is its mission- driven purpose,” Haraway says. “While we’ll serve all pet owners with routine, affordable veterinary wellness care, every visit also helps fund essential services for animals and families in our community who can’t afford care on their own.
“When you bring your pet to Sequoyah Animal Advocates Wellness Clinic, you’re helping another animal get the care they deserve,” she says.
“This new clinic is an extension of our nonprofit Sequoyah Animal Advocates, dedicated to improving animal welfare in our area. With one of our town’s veterinary clinics closing on Oct. 29, we saw a growing need — and we’re stepping up to fill that gap in a smaller, more personal setting.
“We can’t wait to open our doors and serve the community that has always supported us,” Haraway says.
The new clinic is not a full-service hospital, Napier emphasizes, but will focus on what matters most for everyday pet health:
• Routine vaccinations • Heartworm testing
• Preventative flea/ tick medication
• Microchipping
• Pet supplies and other retail goods “It’s not a full-service vet clinic for emergencies and surgeries and that type of thing, just routine vaccines, flea and tick medication, heartworm testing, and then we’ll have retail stuff, pet supplies, things like that,” Napier points out.
“People know Sequoyah Animal Advocates. They know it’s for pets in need. This is also catered toward just regular people who can afford the services. But by you coming here to do your routine care, that helps to provide services for someone else’s pet who can’t afford it,” Napier says.
The clinic, at 127 E. Quesenbury Avenue in Sallisaw, will be open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning Nov. 4. But depending on need, the clinic days and hours could expand.
“It’ll be based on need and how it grows,” Haraway says. “We just see such a huge need, based on what we’ve seen at our other clinics, which are sometimes completely free, sometimes are not, depending on who’s putting them on and what the grant money is. And we’ll continue to search for grants and try to find ways to do it as low-cost as possible.”
Haraway says pet owners can call ahead if they prefer, “but we’re not really going to necessarily ask for making appointments, because we’re going off the same advice as Kitties and Canines. Because of only limited services anyway, it’s just going to be walkin.”
Prior to the clinic’s grand opening, Sequoyah Animal Advocates is hosting a Halloween Pet Costume Contest at 6 p.m. Monday, October 27, at the pocket park in downtown Sallisaw. There will be prizes, candy and fun, Haraway says.
