Wichita veterinary hospital receives $80,000 donation

The Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Hospital of Wichita celebrated a $80,000 donation to its fund to financially assist pet owners struggling to pay for veterinary treatment.

“Many of our clients are put in unexpected situations when unexpected events happen to them and their animals that they struggle to pay for,” Brock Lofgreen, owner and director of the veterinary hospital, said Thursday.

“This donation allows them to have their animals treated the way they and we would wish.”

The donation comes from the Pamela J. Edwards Revocable Trust, a fund dedicated to helping animals. Edwards, who passed away more than three years ago, had no family but was a great lover of animals, said Christen Skaer, Edwards’ veterinarian and a trustee of the fund.

“It pains me, and I know it pained Pam, when people can’t pay for veterinary fees,” Skaer said. “We really want the money to go to the right place and the right people — to animals that can be saved and to owners that just need a little help.”

Skaer presented the check Thursday morning at the hospital’s rehab center, 727 S. Washington.

The check went toward the hospital’s Paw It Forward fund, a nonprofit initiative with the national Veterinary Care Foundation to provide financial assistance to Wichita pet owners. Donated funds go toward good samaritan cases, assistance for pet owners in financial crisis and help for pets harmed or displaced in local disasters.

Lofgreen said he hopes the fund, which launched about a year ago, could help 50 to 75 pets and owners each year. In addition to donations like Thursday’s, the veterinary hospital raises money for Paw It Forward through events with local businesses and will host a fundraising gala in February.

“We want this (gift) to be a big start to something really spectacular,” Lofgreen said. “We want (the fund) to be something the community knows about, something people can contribute to.”

This story was originally published August 18, 2016 at 2:05 PM with the headline "Wichita veterinary hospital receives $80,000 donation."