Dubai: This winter, an animal welfare centre in Ras Al Khaimah has urged residents to take advantage of the cooler months to have their pets desexed, microchipped, dewormed, and vaccinated through their mobile veterinary clinics to prevent lethal and nasty animal diseases.
“Veterinary checks are always a little bit stressful for the animal. Add to that if it’s really hot, when the dog is panting [to regulate his body temperature], then it adds to the stress to the animal. So the winter months are always the best time to do it,” Ellen Quanjer, manager of Ras Al Khaimah Animal Welfare Centre (RAKAWC), told Gulf News.
Quanjer said the centre will run its Mobile Clinic every first Friday of the month until March next year to bring urgent care to the pets of RAK residents who might not be able to afford the relatively high costs of veterinary care.
“Shaikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi [Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah] is sponsoring us so all the services we are offering to people who normally don’t have the money for it is below cost price. We only put a nominal fee so people would value the service given them,” Quanjer said.
For routine veterinary services, including a full line of canine and feline vaccinations, deworming, flea and tick control as well as microchipping, that would roughly cost Dh500, the centre is charging only Dh50.
The centre also conducts animal desexing for free as part of the its vision to reduce the number of stray animals in the emirate.
The next Mobile Clinic on January 3 can be found at Al Rams on Police Station Road, next to Al Zahraa Cafeteria in RAK. Khuzam, next to Hot Breads, will be the location of the Mobile Clinics for February 7 and March 7. All Mobile Clinics are held between 4pm and 7pm every first Friday of the month from October to March each year. For more information, visit www.rakawc.com.
