Vet Clinic provides care for MWDs, family pets

  • Published
  • By Airman Eugene Oliver
  • 23d Wing Public Affairs

When a Military Working Dog (MWD) or a service members pet has a health issue where do you take it?

One option would be Moody’s veterinary treatment facility (VTF), whose mission is dedicated to caring for the 24 K-9s assigned to 23d Security Forces Squadron as well as pets owned by base members.

“Our main responsibility is to the MWD’s that are stationed here,” said U.S. Army Capt. Kaila Chung, public health activity at Fort Gordon veterinarian. “Ensuring that our MWD’s are healthy so that they can deploy and perform their mission effectively is our main obligation.

“We provide medical care to POA’s to help raise money for our MWD’s while also getting extra practice and experience with overall veterinary care.”

According to Chung, the Moody vet clinic has approximately 60 available appointments per week and they only treat dogs and cats, with roughly 80 percent of them being personally owned animals.

The clinic provides a vast range of medical services such as: vaccinations, minor surgeries, worm testing, microchip insertion, parasite screening, dental cleaning/extraction, spay, neutering, x-rays and ultrasounds.

“I just love that our military looks after not just their animals but the pets of their troops and their families,” said a customer. “I feel very comfortable taking my dog here because I enjoy the individualized care that we get here.”

Along with giving back to Airmen by treating their pets, Moody’s vet clinic offers other advantages over using off-base vets.

“The difference between our office and a regular vet office that you’d find in town is our prices,” said Chung. “We don’t charge walk-in fees, and overall our vaccinations and basic procedure prices are lower than average.

“We take a great deal of pride in the overall role we play in Moody’s mission not only with the MWD’s, but with ensuring that the Airmen’s pets are taken care of as well.”