This article was originally printed in the Jan/Feb 2026 issue of the California Veterinarian magazine.

Rural Area Veterinary Services (RAVS), part of the Access to Care division of Humane World for Animals, is a veterinary outreach program combining direct care and professional mentorship to bring high-quality medical care to animals in underserved communities, where resource inequities and geographic isolation make regular veterinary services inaccessible.

While addressing immediate animal care needs, RAVS also provides highly mentored, hands-on training and experience for veterinary professionals and students to increase awareness and support the development of local access to veterinary care efforts in communities everywhere.

The RAVS program has worked for more than 20 years to expand access to animal health resources for people and pets in underserved communities. To date, RAVS teams have provided veterinary services for more than 194,000 animals in partner communities throughout the United States. Our current direct care work is focused on Native Nations communities throughout the Western U.S., maintaining active partnerships with 12 Nations in Arizona, New Mexico, North and South Dakota, and Washington.

Direct Care Services
RAVS’ core program is our field teaching clinics, providing medical and surgical care for dogs and cats via large, MASH-style field clinics. These events involve teams of 20–40 veterinary staff, professional volunteers, and students setting up full-scale temporary veterinary hospitals for one-to-two weeks at a time. Our teams are invited and hosted by tribal agencies in each community and work closely with community partners. Every clinic is a shared project with RAVS and local community partners, which may include personnel from tribal animal control, public health agencies, or local animal advocates.

Our direct care services aim to address the most critical animal health and welfare issues in each community. Though our focus is on preventive care, including spay/neuter, vaccination, and parasite control, RAVS experienced field teams provide a range of medical and surgical services, such as soft tissue surgeries, urgent care, infectious disease treatment, and more. During a typical week-long field clinic, the team will generally see 300–500 dogs and cats for surgery, wellness, and emergency care. In 2025 alone, we provided veterinary care for more than 8,600 animals across 12 partner communities, with veterinary services valued at more than $1.5 million.

Professional Development and Mentorship
At the core of the RAVS program are our professional volunteers. Each year, more than 150 veterinarians and veterinary technicians from all over the country take time away from their jobs and daily lives to generously contribute their skills and expertise.

In a time when the veterinary profession is dealing with high rates of burnout, personnel shortages, and other pressures, RAVS offers the opportunity to work with a team of exceptionally dedicated colleagues to provide the care people need for their beloved animals without concern for the client’s economic status.

This can be an incredibly rewarding experience, and many volunteers report that RAVS has helped them reconnect to the passion that brought them to veterinary medicine to begin with. For more than a few, RAVS has been what kept them in the profession when they were on the verge of leaving. As an antidote to compassion fatigue, we think of this as “compassion relief.”

As an active teaching program, RAVS also provides mentorship opportunities for veterinary and veterinary technician students and professionals to gain hands-on training in medicine, anesthesia, surgery, and client communication. Additionally, these students gain vital exposure to community outreach and access to care philosophies and uncover a deeper awareness and appreciation of the systemic challenges faced in underserved communities.

Students often say they have gained more practical clinical experience in one week in the field with RAVS than in a year of veterinary school, graduating and moving into their careers equipped with knowledge and strategies to expand access to veterinary care and improve quality of life for animals everywhere. The skills and confidence gained will help them to provide a broader spectrum of care for families with limited resources wherever they go on to practice.

The RAVS team is committed to the philosophy that all companion animals deserve high-quality care regardless of the situation.

Why We Do What We Do

The communities we work with have limited or no regular access to veterinary care due to both geographic isolation and concentrated poverty rooted in systemic inequity and historical oppression. Even basic animal care resources are limited, as there are often no local sources for pet food or supplies. The closest veterinarian may be 50 miles away.

For families without transportation, elderly people, and those with disabilities, accessing care can be nearly impossible. Appointment availability and veterinary workforce limitations also limit care options, particularly in rural areas where there may be just one veterinary practice to serve a large geographic area.

People struggling with their own food or housing insecurity may have a hard time affording food for their pets, let alone veterinary care, grooming, and other needs. Access to veterinary care in these communities is almost never a matter of just one barrier; instead, it involves layers of barriers and challenges that go beyond just cost of care.

Despite these barriers, the human-animal bond runs deep, and we see that bond every day in the love and commitment demonstrated by our clients. Everywhere we work, families employ tremendous creativity, resilience, and resourcefulness to overcome the obstacles and bring their animals in for care. They drive long distances with many pets, some in borrowed cars with gas money they raised.

They support each other by transporting neighbors and their pets to the clinic. They relish the opportunity to talk to a veterinary professional and proudly share stories about their animal family members—their unconditional love and endearing personalities. They express much gratitude for the opportunity to provide the care they want and need for their animal family members. And often, they express relief as the emotional burden of worrying about a beloved animal is lifted.

The RAVS team is committed to the philosophy that all companion animals deserve high-quality care regardless of the situation. The emphasis across all our clinical work is on quality of care and supporting the human-animal bond. Every animal deserves the best care possible, and every family deserves the opportunity to provide the care they need for their animals. We also recognize the importance of offering care in the context in which the animal and family live, and we strive to understand and keep our clients’ goals and needs central.

We have a unique opportunity in veterinary medicine to effect change for people and pets. When we honor the love people have for their pets and remove barriers, we serve not only the animals but also their families and the community at large.

Access to veterinary care is a complex issue, but more and more we are seeing opportunities for shifts in the veterinary and animal welfare fields that can help make animal care resources more equitable and accessible to all animals and people. We need everyone—from veterinary professionals to policymakers—to join the conversation and work together to help build systems that will bridge the gaps in care to promote animal and human health and wellbeing.