Fences For Fido and Madras Animal Hospital partner to bring free pet services to Warm Springs
Barney Lerten
WARM SPRINGS, Ore. (KTVZ) — With medicine and supplies in tow, a team from Madras Animal Hospital and Fences For Fido greeted dozens of Warm Springs residents who lined up on Saturday for free pet vaccines, flea/tick medications, and pet food.
The free wellness clinic is among the services that help bridge gaps between the remote tribal community and essential services like veterinary care.
“Forty minutes before the clinic opened, our first customer arrived with seven dogs and a cat,” says Michelle Blake, Executive Director of the Portland-based nonprofit Fences For Fido, who coordinated Saturday’s two-hour drop-in wellness clinic at the Warm Springs Fire and Safety building.
“Just imagine the cost if all eight pets needed to get their exams and treatments at the going rate for veterinary care,” Blake said.
In the first hour, the team vaccinated 44 dogs and 5 cats and anticipated an afternoon total of about 75 pets.
Pets arriving for the free clinic ranged from a 1.7-lb puppy to 80-lb adult dogs.
“There was even a little family reunion when a brindle pit bull mama met two of her 7-month-old puppies while waiting in line for shots,” Blake said.
Now adopted to separate families, the puppies and their mother recognized each other and exchanged little nose-bumps while waiting their turns.
Fences For Fido has served the Warm Springs community since 2016. The nonprofit’s founding mission is to build free fenced yards to improve the quality of life for dogs previously kept on a tether or in a small enclosure. “Our mission expanded to help meet other critical needs for dogs and cats on the reservation where there is no on-site veterinary care,” says Kelly Peterson, Fences For Fido’s chair and co-founder.
The organization partners with another nonprofit, First Nations Veterinary, to bring high-volume summer spay/neuter clinics to Warm Springs. Those summer clinics will sterilize 100 or more pets in a two-day weekend. Outside of clinic weekends, Fences For Fido partners with Dr. Jerud Rhen and his staff at Madras Animal Hospital.
“Dr. Rhen makes time available to help us serve Warm Springs families, and our team will drive pets from Warm Springs to Madras if the family has a transportation challenge,” says Blake. “Together, Fences For Fido and Madras Animal Hospital have spayed and neutered 167 dogs and 26 cats.”
Fences For Fido processes 600+ applications each year form Oregon and Washington families asking for help with fencing, veterinary care, or spay/neuter services. The group’s volunteer fence-builders unchained 323 dogs and delivered 217 dog houses to pets in need in 2024.
Their services in Warm Springs have provided:
600+ dogs with safe fenced yards.
400+ dogs and puppies transferred to shelters and rescues
800+ dog houses to provide protection from weather extremes
100,000+ pounds of dog/cat food distributed through the organization’s Warm Springs pet food bank
Fences For Fido, founded in Portland in 2009, has unchained more than 3,700 dogs across Oregon and Washington. FencesForFido.org