HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) – Anicira Veterinary Center hosted its first ‘Healthy Pets Event’ on Saturday, October 11, at Hillandale Park in Harrisonburg.

The drive-up event offered free vaccines and flea, tick treatments, and other pet care resources and supplies.

Mary Golden-Hughes, Anicira’s Marketing & Communications Manager, said events like this help the entire community.

“Healthy pets make a healthy community,” Golden-Hughes said. “When a pet is vaccinated, that means they are not spreading diseases to other dogs. We want to make sure that we keep pets as happy and healthy as possible, and that starts with the very basics, basic veterinary care. Exams and getting those annual vaccinations.”

For this event, she said the organization wanted to make vet care as open to the community as possible.

“The goal of healthy pets is to make sure that all of our pets in the community have access to core vaccines like rabies and distemper shots,” Golden-Hughes said. “At Aniciria, we are a non-profit veterinary center, so we want to do everything that we can to reduce barriers and make great veterinary care accessible to as many people as possible.”

As this was their first time hosting this event, the organization hopes to continue to provide affordable care.

“We have a history of doing vaccine clinics at Anicira locations, usually one or two a year, smaller scale at our hospital, but this time we decided, let’s move it to a park, to a central location that is accessible, there is room for people to drive through and get the care they need.”

For more information about Anicira and the service they provide, visit their website.