Community Clinics Help Pets in Need

August 31, 2025

By Dan Barner

At the Animal Protective Foundation, our mission is to ensure that every companion animal in our community is cared for, loved and has the chance to find a forever home. Through adoption services, veterinary care and community outreach, we’re dedicated to improving the lives of pets and the people who love them.

Throughout the year APF holds a series of community clinics to provide important medical care to local dogs and cats. These clinics include our microchip clinic, pet wellness clinic and spay/neuter clinic.

A third of all dogs and cats in the United States go missing at some point in their lives, and the sad truth is that more than 80% of missing pets never make it back home. The good news is that microchipping your pet greatly increases the likelihood of them being reunited with their family if they go missing. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, 52% of lost dogs and 38% of lost cats with microchips were reunited with their owners, versus just 22% of dogs and 2% of cats without microchips.

When a lost pet is brought to a shelter or veterinarian they can be scanned for a microchip, which will provide owner contact information that is stored in a database. Microchipping your pet is highly recommended. Our microchip clinics offer low-cost microchipping for dogs and cats. The next microchip clinic is Oct. 24 at Capitaland Motors in Schenectady. Registration is required at animalprotective.org/news-events.

Our wellness clinics are a great opportunity for members of our community who are financially struggling to take advantage of wellness and preventative services to help their pets live a healthy lifestyle. So far this year we have helped more than 350 dogs and cats at our clinics. These clinics include free vaccinations, free microchipping, a free mini checkup by a veterinarian, free pet food and free flea/tick preventatives.

Our next wellness clinic is for dogs only and will be held Sept. 15 at The Bridge Church in Mont Pleasant. Pre-registration is highly recommended at animalprotective.org/news-events. Our pet wellness clinics are made possible by the generous support of the Banfield Foundation.

APF also offers affordable spay and neuter services. Our community spay/neuter clinic is a high-quality, high-volume clinic focused on controlling pet overpopulation through lower-cost sterilization surgery. So far this year our clinic has performed more than 2,000 low-cost spay/neuter surgeries. Appointment availability can be found at animalprotective.org/spay-neuter.

Of course, these clinics wouldn’t happen without the amazing APF team and volunteers who come together to help thousands of pets in our community every year. We are incredibly proud of their dedication and compassion for animals in need.

For a list of upcoming APF events, visit animalprotective. org/news-events.