Photo By Rachel Larue | Dr. Nancy Sitarz Spalding, veterinarian in Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall’s...... read more read more
JOINT BASE MYER-HENDERSON HALL, Va. - Having a four-legged kid is a lifetime commitment, and the Veterinary Treatment Facility on the Fort Myer portion of Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall can be an invaluable partner for Fido, Fluffy and their service and family members and retiree parents.
“It’s like having an actual baby,” Spc. Adrianna Maza, a technician at the clinic, said of being a pet parent. “When they’re little, you have to get up in the middle of the night to take them out.”
Located at 101 Jackson Street, Bldg. 239, the facility can take care of vaccinating and microchipping your dog or cat. The clinic also provides well-pet, heartworm and fecal tests and toe nail trims.
“We want to do more,” said Dr. Nancy Sitarz-Spalding, officer-in-charge. “We’re not your typical clinic.”
The clinic can also provide medications, including heartworm preventatives, over-the-counter flea preventatives and prescription diets.
Sitarz-Spalding stressed that pet owners have to put their whole hearts and pocketbooks into caring for their furry charges.
“You can’t do it halfway,” she said. “If you do it half, that animal suffers.”
If clinic staff can’t treat an animal on the joint base, Sitarz-Spalding said they are happy to partner with civilian facilities to ensure the best possible outcome for the patient.
“We actually do talk to the other veterinarians and then try to work together,” she said. “We always try to relish that. We have such great communication. We call it the mutual client. No one has to worry about ‘you’re trying to take my client away from me.’ All we’re trying to do is help the animals and help the military.”
Staffers at the clinic can see up to 20 privately-owned dogs or cats each day.
“We do a lot of health certificates because that’s what the military needs,” said Sitarz-Spalding.
The clinic’s staff also stands ready to provide transitioning service members with a set of pre-moving recommendations for their pets, especially at this time of year, when many are beginning to get permanent change of station orders and may be preparing to move overseas.
Marine spouse Elizabeth Kent brought her two dogs, Belleau Wood, an 11-year-old cocker spaniel and Tripoli, a 4-month-old bulldog, to the clinic for their well-pet checks March 15.
“I always get awesome care here,” she said. “I drive all the way down from Woodbridge (Virginia). Every time we come, if they are sick, they solve the problem.”
Sitarz-Spalding urged service members to reach out to their overseas point of contact to ensure that their furry family members have all the necessary vaccinations and health checks required by the country to where they are moving.
“We ask people to check online and to talk with their POCs,” she said.
The clinic’s staff also cares for the Military District of Washington’s working police dogs as well as The 3d Infantry Division’s (The Old Guard) caisson horses. Sitarz-Spalding said treating the horses is not as big of a challenge as it may seem.
“They are gentle giants,” she said. “Sometimes it’s easier to treat these horses than another animal that has no use for humans.”
The clinic is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, call 703-696-3604.
| Date Taken: | 03.26.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 03.26.2015 17:13 |
| Story ID: | 158246 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE MYER-HENDERSON HALL, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 40 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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