Portland Animal Welfare Team

Portland Animal Welfare Team is a grassroots, volunteer-powered nonprofit that provides vital veterinary services, pet supplies, and wrap-around support for over 4,300 Portland-area families per year. We aid individuals living on the streets, in transitional shelters or government housing, as well as those facing temporary financial hardship that restricts their access to medical care for their pets

Our work began in the early 1990s, long before PAW Team became an official organization, when a small grassroots network of volunteer veterinarians were inspired to help the growing number of people living on the streets of Portland without access to affordable veterinary care for their companion animals. These compassionate, community minded individuals began working to provide critically needed veterinary care to companion animals on an informal, ad hoc basis. Operating on a shoe-string budget, four-legged clients were seen and treated in pop-up clinics located in basements, lobbies, courtyards and sidewalks, in abandoned grocery stores and warehouses, and in a variety of parks and camp communities. Since our official founding in 2003, PAW Team has grown from providing basic veterinary exams on street corners to a consistent and comprehensive approach to medical treatment, seeking to provide the highest level of care possible for companion animals and their families in our community

Mission — The Portland Animal Welfare Team saves lives, alleviates suffering, and keeps pets and people together by providing veterinary care to the pets of people experiencing houselessness or extreme poverty