WICHITA FALLS (KFDX//KJTL) — When things got rough for area nonprofits, like P.E.T.S. (Preventing Euthanasia Through Sterilization) Clinic during the pandemic, officials were left chasing their tails for ideas to continue to serve your furry family members.

Heather Stone said being able to depend on P.E.T.S. Clinic has been a blessing.

“It’s made it very easy because with my recent dog I couldn’t afford the care he needed at the time because it was gonna cost quite a bit of money and I didn’t have it,” Stone said.

P.E.T.S. vows to not leave any pet behind by providing high-quality, low-cost spays and neuters and veterinary services to your good boys and feline friends.

“I couldn’t afford the therapies he needed at the time, the medicine, the weekly bandage changes,” Stoen said. “It cost hundreds to thousands of dollars and some people just don’t have it.”

While Harrelson said 2019 was what she calls a “glorious” year for the clinic, COVID-19 changed all of that.

“We were trying to wrap up our capital campaign, had successfully done so and were looking forward to building this new building and we were seeing on average 42 surgeries every day, on average 110 to 120 walk-ins from the 10 to 2 period for preventative care,” Harrelson said.

The clinic was shut down for all of summer and spring which Harrelson said is the worst time to be closed.

“The springtime is when puppies and kittens are born, that’s the highest time for litters so having to close during that time meant we were not accomplishing our mission we were not preventing the litters that were going to be unwanted in our community,” Harrelson said.

They were not able to provide well as preventative care either.

Harrelson said they weren’t able to do the volume of services they were used to and still have not been able to catch up.

Not to mention not having income for three months.

“When we reopened it was crazy, people just came out of the woodwork and we were so thrilled that we were reopening but then we couldn’t see as many as we were used to seeing, we were having to do curbside, where we are going out to get the animal from the car and bringing them and do the services and returning it, everything was slower,” Harrelson said. “We rely primarily on our clinic revenues so it takes people coming to see us and bring us their animals and trust us with their animals for us to be able to turn around and make that revenue that we can then give back to the community.”

More than anything, Harrelson said continued donations and volunteers will have a “pawsitive” impact on the community they serve.

Find out how you can get involved here.