Animal Welfare Professionals

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  • 1.  What questions do you ask someone requesting veterinary assistance funding?

    Posted 4 days ago

    I am starting a new role in charge of distributing funds to the community when someone is in need of financial assistance for their pet. This is a program designed to keep pets with their families and reduce owner surrender due to financial hardship.

    What types of questions do you ask someone requesting veterinary assistance funding?


    #AccesstoCare
    #CommunityPartnerships*
    #PetSupportServices*

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    Shannon Evans
    Medical Coordinator
    Friends of SAWAS
    VA
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  • 2.  RE: What questions do you ask someone requesting veterinary assistance funding?

    Posted 18 hours ago

    Hi Shannon,

    This is a great question. Overall, the phrasing and types of questions should be nonjudgemental and purpose-driven (i.e. there should be a reason why each question is asked). Asking too many questions may act as a barrier to seeking assistance, but not asking enough may limit your ability to show who you are serving and what the impacts of the funds are (if that is a goal). Also, people typically want to know what will be done with their information and who has access to it.

    What you need to know may vary based on your organization and what you need to report back to organization leadership/board/funder(s). There are various questions I would consider, such as:
    - How are you defining eligibility criteria such as "financial hardship"? Are you trying to confirm eligibility through self-reported income (category), location, etc.?
    - Do you plan on following up with recipients to track outcomes? If so, you should ask their contact information (phone and email) and permission.
    - Are you asking how much money they need and what they will use it for? Is the money going directly from your organization to the veterinary clinic, or is it going to the family? Are you confirming any veterinary recommendations or estimated costs? Can people ask for funds multiple times (over time or for different pets)?
    - Do you need any information about the pets being served, such as species, age, sex, spay/neuter status, how long the pet has been living with the family?
    - You may want to ask what would happen to the pet if this assistance were not available? (e.g. delay care, surrender, euthanasia) And/or what implications are there for the humans, such as not being able to get enough food, healthcare, e.g., in order to pay for pet-related expenses.
    - Do you serve people who speak other languages? Can the intake form/communications be translated into other languages?

    I'm sure there are others on the forum with direct experience who can weigh in. I'm also happy to meet and discuss this further with you.

    Best,
    Claire

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    Claire Schuch, PhD
    Associate Director for Research
    Program for Pet Health Equity
    University of Tennessee, Knoxville
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: What questions do you ask someone requesting veterinary assistance funding?

    Posted 17 hours ago

    Shannon, I also wanted to point out a parallel conversation that is happening in this forum about the questions asked by food pantries. 

    Catriona Cottle, Animal Services Supervisor at Antioch Animal Services in CA shared that "We attempted to keep data, but with the constant flow of people coming in our doors it was creating a bottleneck and sometimes discouraging people as they didn't want to provide information. We decided to be truly barrier free and limited our food distribution to one gallon zip lock bag of cat food and one gallon zip lock bag of dog food per person per day with no id checks, no questions asked.

    We have repeat clients daily and some who are just waiting for that next paycheck. We have also had those who then pay it forward and donate back to us. We add handouts with the food for free vaccination clinics, spay/neuter resources and other information and hope that they take advantage of what they need."

    See also Pet Food Pantry Tracking | Animal Welfare Professionals

    While handing out food is different from providing veterinary funds, there is some overlap and you may be able to learn from their experience. I also really like the idea of offering handouts with information and other resources to help educate, support, and stabilize families.



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    Claire Schuch, PhD
    Associate Director for Research
    Program for Pet Health Equity
    University of Tennessee, Knoxville
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    Original Message


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