ALTO, Mich. — Taking care of pets can get costly, sadly too costly for some families. So one west Michigan woman is making it her life’s work to help animals who otherwise might not get a happy ending.
For the past year, Dr. Amy Pietras has run Quick Fix Veterinary Clinic out of her home in Alto, that is when she’s not working two other part-time jobs in other veterinarian offices doing surgery and wellness visits. But how she got where she is today is part of the story.
“Hurricane Katrina hit so I quit my job as a CPA, went down south and started rescuing animals in Louisiana," Dr. Pietras told Fox 17. "It was really the spur of the moment, Hurricane Katrina hit and I thought, ‘You know what? I can do this. I can quit my job, pack my bags and go south, not many can.’ I came back to Michigan with a car load of animals and opened a shelter."
But after a couple years, Dr. Pietras thought that still wasn’t enough.
“Then I decided I could do more for the animals as a vet because there are just not enough low income vets," Dr. Pietras said. "There are not enough shelter vets. There is much more spay and neuter that needs to be done. So I closed the shelter and focused on vet school.”
Fast-forward to today and Dr. Pietras, with the help of a couple vet technicians and volunteers, provides affordable vet care offering vaccinations, heartworm and parasite treatment and general surgery with a focus on two key services.
“We mostly focus on cats for spay and neuter just because of the overpopulation with cats," Dr. Pietras said. "We don’t really have overpopulation of dogs here in Michigan. I like to focus on the dentals. I think pet dentistry is really overlooked by a good portion of owners, that or they can’t afford it. The more people we can get, healthy mouths healthy animals. I see a lot of stuff people didn’t know was there. I’ve had animals who have had dental disease showing at six months of age which I don’t even understand how that’s possible, but it is."
Dr. Pietras says too many animals suffer unnecessarily or are put to sleep due to financial hardships and she is trying to change that.
“I get people who come here and say ‘My vet quoted me $600-$800 for this and you took care of it for $115,'" Dr. Pietras said.
Her clinic is open whenever she’s not busy with her day job at another vet’s office.
Usually one or two days a week to the public and another day or two per week for groups like rescue organizations and county shelters.
“I saw the need and was able to fill it," Dr. Pietras said. "I would point that as the best decision I ever made was to quit my job and go rescue animals.”
Dr. Pietras is fully licensed by the state of Michigan and fully insured.
For more information, check out her website, or email her at quickfixvet@yahoo.com.