By Olivia DeWan, contributor
Anicira, the non-profit veterinary service in Harrisonburg, will host its first free Healthy Pets event at Hillandale Park in Harrisonburg.
The event, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Oct. 11 offers free vaccines and flea and tick prevention for household dogs and cats, helping local pet owners keep their companions healthy and protected.
“This is Anicira’s 20th year in service to the community, and we were founded as a non-profit veterinary service,” said Mary Golden-Hughes, marketing and communications manager at Anicira Veterinary Center. “We always had the goal in mind of reducing barriers to great health care for animals.”
Anicira started as a spay and neuter program in the Shenandoah Valley, but has since grown into a full veterinary program offering surgeries, wellness appointments, and dentistry appointments. They focus heavily on providing vaccines and flea and tick treatments for family pets, and for the first time, they are bringing these services directly to the local community through Healthy Pets.
“We realized in doing our early veterinary work that there are family members who simply can’t just afford the basic care that is needed to care for their pets,” Golden-Hughes said. “So we then tried to make everything as barrier free and affordable as possible.”
Healthy Pets will provide free vaccines, sponsored by Petco Love, a non-profit animal welfare charity, to help families keep their pets’ vaccinations current.
“We are very thrilled to make this event available to household cats and dogs,” said Dan Chavez, the operations coordinator. “Our cats and dogs will be separated from each other to help reduce their stress levels.”
Clients will be directed to designated areas of the park organized by pet type. After completing a quick check-in, pet owners can enjoy light refreshments while their pets receive care from a team of over 60 trained volunteers. Accommodations are for dogs that are more reactive.
Healthy Pets cannot provide services to stray or community cats and dogs for the safety of their volunteers.
“We can’t thank Cat’s Cradle and Rockingham Harrisonburg SPCA enough for their support,” Chavez said. “They helped to secure a lot of our volunteers for this event. We’ve seen in the Shenandoah Valley that we have a very generous community who wants to help”
Healthy Pets will supply cat carriers and dog leashes to ensure all animals can be safely seen. The event requires that all dogs be kept on leashes and that cats arrive in carriers.
Anicira depends on donations from local residents and clients to host events like Healthy Pets. Many of those contributions are in the form of cat carriers, leashes, and other supplies used during community outreach efforts.
“We are dedicated to making sure that your donation is valued, and it makes an impact,” Chavez said. “We are incredibly grateful to our clientele who have been incredibly gracious. We’ve been thrilled to have financial support from our community.”
Donations have been a key part of how Anicira has worked over the past 20 years to provide pet care access for pet owners. In 2024, they donated $750,000 in free pet care to the community.
“We all know how important it is to have a healthy community, but when people think of that, we always think of human health care,” Golden-Hughes said. “But dogs and cats are part of human families, and every day at Anicira we witness countless examples of the family-pet bond. Animals and pets are integral to us.”
Along with vaccines and tick and flea treatments, Healthy Pets will also provide free pet food. Anicira’s Pet Pantry is a bi-monthly event held on Saturday mornings, where pet owners can get free pet food from 8-10 a.m. at 910 N. Liberty St.
By collaborating with donors, volunteers, and pet owners, Anicira aims to create a world where every family can provide their pets with what they need.
“We are constantly trying to work with families to meet them on their level and make pet care as affordable as possible,” Golden-Hughes said. “The last thing we want is for someone to lose a beloved pet.”
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