You may have heard the term “food deserts” to describe low-income urban areas that lack access to supermarkets and other sources of fresh, healthy food.

These areas are often “veterinary deserts” too. Veterinary deserts are lower-income city neighborhoods that have fewer veterinary clinics than affluent neighborhoods. A recent article on the DVM 360 website highlights this problem.

An animal welfare non-profit called Atlanta Rescue Dog Café found that the Atlanta postal code areas with the lowest income levels also had the fewest veterinary practices. Many neighborhoods with a median household income of less than $40,000 had just one or zero clinics.

The CEO of the organization, Aaron Fisher, said “People in lower-income areas care as much about their pets as those in higher-income areas, but lack of accessible care often means they must travel farther to get to the vet, which makes routine care more costly and less convenient.”

Besides a lack of veterinary services, pet owners in these areas also have less access to education on responsible pet ownership that can come from veterinary practices, such as the importance of spay/neuter, vaccinations, and ensuring that pets have collar IDs and are walked on a leash.

ARDC’s research also found similar veterinary deserts in other large metropolitan areas like Chicago, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles.

Fisher suggested that veterinary schools can help alleviate this shortage by providing tuition assistance for students willing to practice in low-income urban areas.

The US veterinary shortage is not limited to urban areas. Similar efforts are being explored to address the rural veterinary shortage as well.

Here in San Diego, FACE works with over 180 veterinary hospitals to help prevent economic euthanasia by providing grants to pet owners in need of financial assistance for critical veterinary care. In return, our partners provide a 25% discount on services for FACE cases.