Virtual lifesaver at your service

BEST FRIENDS TEAMS UP TO EXPAND ACCESS TO ONLINE VETERINARY CONSULTS AMID COVID-19 OUTBREAK

During the coronavirus pandemic, technological innovation has been bridging gaps in lifesaving support in big ways. Telehealth services that can triage and support patients virtually have been a necessity when people can’t leave home. And that same innovation is giving remote veterinary services for our pets a boost, too.

Best Friends has offered 5,000 free 30-day subscriptions to the Best Friends Vet Access app for people with pets in New York. And Maddie’s Fund® (#ThanksToMaddie) has expanded access to the app to support people who are fostering pets for shelters and rescue groups nationwide. Because the app connects people with 24/7 veterinary advice, it’s a virtual lifesaver in the palm of your hand.

Learn more about the Best Friends Vet Access app and sign up: bestfriends.org/vetaccess

It might have been easier to let Rexie Roo go. But all it takes is hearing the handsome tuxedo cat purr, or watching him cuddle up with a friend, to know that saving him was clearly the right choice.

We first heard about Rex not long after someone found him injured and brought him to a rural shelter in Utah. He was skinny and scared, wasn’t neutered, and had no identification tag or microchip. It appeared that he’d been hit by a car, and his injuries were so bad that the shelter staff put out a plea: He needed a place to go right away, or they would be forced to euthanize him.

The Best Friends team in Salt Lake City thought they could help Rex, so they contacted the shelter. Rex made it safely to Salt

10

BEST FRIENDS MAGAZINE July/August 2020