A passion for compassion
by Robin Dorner
Editor in Chief
After “retiring” in 2013, Dr. Leo Baez and his wife, Margaretta, decided to open Midtown Vets at the corner of Harvey and 10th in Midtown, OKC. Dr. Baez’ retirement lasted all of two months.
Dr. Baez and Margaretta have worked together caring for the pets of Oklahoma for more than 30 years and are very involved in the Oklahoma City community. They still find the time to show the Oklahoma City homeless community such compassion in their work; in what they can do.
“The ‘I Am Not Alone’ program is the name that we put on the project we do here for the homeless,” said Dr. Baez. “In 2014 when we started doing the remodeling of this building, there were times we would come in and there were homeless people waiting for us to help them with their pets.”
“My wife would visit with them and tell me these people don’t have any money and we should help them with their dogs. So, we helped them with flea and tick control and heartworm prevention medication.”
That is where it began. At the time, Downtown OKC wanted to do a fundraising event to support this program. To date, it’s the only fundraising event held for the “I am not alone” program. Baez has not set his program up as a non-profit.
“These clients started talking amongst themselves and since my wife had already told them we would take care of them; I mean, there were days we would take care of more of these clients than the paying ones!”
Baez went on to talk about some of the clients he has served and their unique needs.
“There was one guy, Billy. He loved his puppy! It was a Chihuahua. We had to examine the pet in his arms, he just would not let the dog go. He told me, ‘this dog keeps me out of trouble, Doc. I don’t know what I would do if something happened to him.’”
Baez said these homeless clients must sleep in camps [outdoors] because there are no shelters in Oklahoma City that would allow people with pets.
“Then one day suddenly, Billy quit coming and in the summer we’d go to the Homeless Alliance to do vaccinations and preventative stuff. So, I asked someone, ‘what happened to Billy?’ He said Billy was in jail because someone stole his dog. Without his dog, he immediately got in trouble.
“The sad thing is, we never heard back from Billy.”
Baez told of another client who had gangrene in her foot. Her dog had heartworms. “She had to walk to our clinic. She could hardly walk, [but] public transportation would not allow her on the bus with the pet.”
Baez told the most moving story about a couple of dogs who slept at night with their owners in a warehouse. In early February, the building burned. The dogs got out safe, but one dog realized his master was still in the building. He went back to alert his master, woke him up and saved his life.
“Sadly, by the time the dog got out the second time, he was so badly burned we had to put the dog down,” Baez said with sadness.
And these stories just go on and on for Baez, his staff and their work in the homeless community.
“We estimated that last year we spent about $25 K on this program. Here, a lot of our [paying] clients know what we do. It’s really cool because our amazing clientele allows us to do this and support the program.”
Baez said he has seen also some amazing stories of success. One client went through the Homeless Alliance, a day shelter program and ended up getting a house, got a job and began bringing her dogs in and paying.
“It was $10 she paid, but how that empowered her was significant,” Baez said adding that some clients will offer to help clean the parking lot or do something to help them out in some way to help pay for services.
“Our only requirement for these clients is that they have a Homeless Alliance card.”
Other than the one fundraising event in the beginning, the rest has been funded primarily by Baez, however he would gladly accept any donations.
“Some of our [paying] clients also donate. The max we have ever gotten at once was $5K organized in 2015 by the one fundraising event we held. Another one of our clients did an event which raised $300 for us.
“I felt that the reason for the success of our practice is because we give to the community. I believe you receive what you give.”
Baez said if a dog is sick, he just takes care of them. It does not matter what it costs.
“I think people need to be more aware of the importance of the relationship between the homeless person and their pet. The significance of that relationship is accountability, unconditional love and responsibility. Maybe we can do more to strengthen this bond because I think we, as a city, will benefit by strengthening this bond. You have more responsible, healthier citizens.”
Unfortunately, there is no place in OKC for homeless people to be with their dogs.
“My dream is some day we can build a place where homeless people can come in because not very many people know that these people die under the bridges. They are not allowed to seek shelter with their dogs and they are dying because they just want to be with their dogs.”
If you would like to donate funds or items for the veterinary care of these pets, please call (405) 606-4477. Donations will assist with purchasing and providing vaccines, medications, care and necessary surgeries for the pets of OKC. Donations of leashes, collars, bowls, blankets and other gear are also needed.
“Anything helps,” Baez said in closing.
Midtown Vets is a full-service animal clinic located at231 NW 10th St, Oklahoma City, OK 73103.
Copyright 2017 The Gayly – March 24, 2017 @ 1 p.m.