Amsterdam giving free vet care to low-income residents

The city of Amsterdam is launching an experiment that provides free vet care to low-income households with a sick pet. This is to promote animal welfare and to prevent sick pets not getting help due to a lack of funds, the municipality announced in a press release on Tuesday. The experiment, called the ADAM scheme, will run from January to September 2016, after which the results will be evaluated and the municipality will determine whether and how it will continue. The municipality reserved 400 thousand euros for this purpose. In this experiment, adult Amsterdam residents with a City Pass because of their financial circumstances, can request a voucher for a consultation with a veterinarian for their pet. If the consultation reveals that the pet needs treatment costing more than 100 euros, the resident can apply for the municipality to pay part of that bill. The municipality will also pay to have the pet chipped. The chip holds the owner's details and helps lost pets be reunited with their families. Further information about the experiment and participating veterinarians will be put on the municipality's website in January. "We want to prevent pets suffering unnecessarily because the owner is unable to provide proper care for his pet due to inadequate financial resources", Animal Welfare alderman Laurens Ivens said in the press release. "In practice you see that people dump their animals or distance themselves because of high medical costs. With this experiment the municipality wants to lower the financial threshold for minimum income households so that they can take their pets to the vet."