At Animal Samaritans, where Coachella Valley pet owners have been receiving veterinary care for their cats and/or dogs for more than 40 years, CEO Tom Snyder and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Rick Klomhaus were thrilled to hear their two-facility operation was selected as having the Best Veterinarians by Coachella Valley Independent readers in this year’s Best of Coachella Valley poll.
“To me, it means that we’re doing good work, and we’re fulfilling our mission to improve the lives of animals and people,” Snyder said. “It’s a testament to our 45 years in the Coachella Valley trying to fulfill our mission. … There are a lot of veterinary clinic options for people out here, so to be considered the first choice for people to go to means that our performance, our pricing and our customer service—which are all areas where we strive to give our best—are on the right path. I look forward to being able to share this award with our staff, and to give them the credit, because they’re the heart and soul—all of our techs, the schedulers, the front desk staff and, of course, our doctors.”
Klomhaus said the award validates the level of care Animal Samaritans is providing to its patients. “It’s a big morale booster for the staff to know that (we won). A lot of times in this field, one of the concerns you have is that you’re dealing with people during emergencies, which is always a challenge for those individuals. Just knowing that we’re helping them and serving the community well is good to know.”
Founded in 1978 by a group of Coachella Valley animal lovers, Animal Samaritans focused initially on pet rescues and adoptions, along with education regarding the humane treatment of animals. Veterinary services did not become part of their operations until a few years later.
“In about 1980, we acquired a building (in Thousand Palms, which is currently Animal Samaritans’ no-kill shelter) and made that our low-cost spay-neuter clinic,” Snyder said. “Just a few years later, veterinary services came into play for the organization with a focus on affordable, quality pet spay-neuter and pet vaccination. Now we offer full-service general practice, urgent care seven days a week, and specialty services with oncology and ophthalmology. We’re really the most comprehensive veterinary service in the immediate area.”
Snyder admitted he was not taken completely by surprise by the Best of Coachella Valley win.
“We give our clients an opportunity to respond to a survey that we provide for them after they’ve been at the clinic and seen a doctor and staff, and we’ve helped them with their pet,” Snyder said. “One of the consistent messages on the surveys is the compassion that our staff has for the animals. I think that’s really vital, because staff could go into the human medical field and probably make more money. But for the most part, they’re here because they love the work. They love the animals and helping the animals.”
Klomhaus splits time between Animal Samaritans’ Indio and Thousand Palms clinics. When not engaged in the hands-on practice of veterinary medicine, he’s busy advising on other cases.
“I think what people are consistently surprised about is that they may have had a pre-conceived notion of what a not-for-profit veterinary hospital might look like—as I sure did before I came to Animal Samaritans,” Klomhaus said. “… In fact, we carry more veterinary specialists than any other hospital in the local area. That, and the ability of our team to offer the scope of services that we offer, I think is surprising. People may not always know that about us, and I think that resonates with the clients.”
As the Coachella Valley and the nation deal with veterinarian shortages, we had to ask: How long is the wait for an appointment at Animal Samaritans?
“Tom and I have made the conscious decision to try to run the general practice at a 30%-35% discount when compared to other practices in the local area,” Klomhaus said. “With that being said, that service is incredibly popular. As a result of that, the wait times can be anywhere between four to six weeks. However, if their animal is having a more immediate concern, we can typically get those animals in under urgent care, either within the day or within two days, to try to get them the care that they need.”
Said Snyder: “Our urgent care does cost more than our general practice, but you get the benefit of having your pet seen the same day or within two days. A lot of pet owners say, ‘That’s what I want,’ and they’ll pay a little more for that rather than waiting to save money.”
According to the 2022 annual report for the organization, 72% of the revenues earned came from clinic services, while those services accounted for 75% of the expenses.
The Animal Samaritans’ largest annual fundraiser, the 14th Annual Men of the Desert fashion show and luncheon, is about to take place—on Sunday, Dec. 3, at 11 a.m., at the Palm Springs Air Museum.
“I want people to remember the breadth of services that we provide to our community as outreach services, (like) our humane education, which is free to all the schools in the Coachella Valley, and we service some schools in the high-desert region as well,” Snyder said. “There’s the no-kill shelter, pet adoptions and animal rescue, and our pet therapy program, which is also free to the community. We have animals that do visits to nursing homes, assisted living and some hospitals, for example. Of course, we have veterinary services, and we have financial aid (for qualifying pet owners), which is another area of distinction for us as a veterinary clinic. We strive to provide quality veterinary care, but not everybody can afford what their pet needs.”
Animal Samaritans is currently engaged in an ongoing capital campaign to raise the funds to build a new pet adoption and humane education center in Thousand Palms, and to renovate and expand the clinic.
“Basically, we’ll have more exam rooms so that we can facilitate more clients,” Snyder said. “We’re going to build out a specific space for our oncology department (and) expand our urgent-care preparation area.”
Of course, fundraising serves as the lifeblood of this community service organization. Beyond the capital campaign, private donations are often designated to support a particular service or community benefit. Snyder talked about their program to help animals that need medical care and don’t have an owner.
“If not for that medical care, the county shelter would have to put them down—but we know that those are warm, friendly, highly adoptable pets,” Snyder said. “So we have a fund called the Cade L. Morrow Fund where we will provide free (medical) services, and then we’ll try to adopt that animal out. We have an animal-care fund which is financial aid with clearly limited restrictions, and we do fundraising for that.”
Klomhaus added: “We have funds available and specifically earmarked for our senior citizens. We have nonrestricted funds for low-income individuals who are outside of our animal-care fund as well. We’ve been given a couple of grants from local groups for that, so there’s actually quite a bit of funding which we utilize on a regular basis. That has improved our quality of life as veterinarians, and for our staff, because we’ve all worked in places where there may be a high euthanasia rate. Here, there’s a very low euthanasia rate when there’s a disease process that can be helped and is not terminal. We try very hard to make sure that people and their pets get the care that they need.”
Snyder pointed out that the Animal Samaritans’ largest annual fundraiser, the 14th Annual Men of the Desert fashion show and luncheon, is about to take place—on Sunday, Dec. 3, at 11 a.m., at the Palm Springs Air Museum. Tickets, which are $200, are available at animalsamaritans.org/men-of-the-desert.
Animal Samaritans doesn’t just need money; the organization also needs volunteers.
“I would like to make an appeal for volunteers interested in becoming pet-foster volunteers,” Snyder said. “That’s a real need that we have. There are too many homeless kittens and puppies at the moment, especially with the kittens right now. The spring kitten season was larger than it has been in the past, and now the fall one is also larger than in past years. We will train the volunteer … and we’ll supply them with all of the equipment they’ll need.
For more information, call 760-343-3477, or visit animalsamaritans.org.