Miami Beach dog and cat owners can get free vaccines, microchips and flea and tick prevention without leaving the neighborhood. Miami-Dade County Animal Services' Wellness on Wheels (WOW) Mobile is parked behind the Flamingo Park basketball courts, at 13th Street and Michigan Avenue, from Monday, September 28 through December 23. It is walk-in, with no appointment needed.

What your pet can get, free

The services are open to Miami Beach residents with dogs and cats, and every one of them is free:

  • Rabies vaccine for dogs and cats.
  • Microchipping, the single best way to get a lost pet home.
  • Deworming.
  • One month of flea and tick prevention.
  • DHPP vaccine for dogs, the core combination shot that covers distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus and parainfluenza.
  • FVRCP vaccine for cats, the core combination shot that covers feline viral rhinotracheitis, calicivirus and panleukopenia.

Add those up at a private clinic and a single visit for one pet can easily run well past what many households want to spend on a routine checkup. Here, it costs nothing.

The three-month run also lines up with the season when many pet owners realize a rabies booster has lapsed or a new rescue still needs its first round of shots. Because it is walk-in, there is no need to book weeks out or take a full day off work: show up during open hours with your pet and wait your turn.

When to go

The WOW Mobile is open Mondays through Wednesdays, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with a lunch break from noon to 1 p.m. It will be closed on Columbus Day (October 12) and Veterans Day (November 11). The van stays through December 23, which gives families nearly three months to fit in a visit.

The City of Miami Beach marked the launch with a ribbon cutting at the site on September 28.

Why it matters

Miami Beach is a dense city of apartments and condos, and plenty of its pets live with older residents, students and working families who do not always have a car or a free afternoon to drive to a clinic on the mainland. Putting the van in Flamingo Park, a short walk or bike ride for much of South Beach, takes that barrier away.

It also helps the whole neighborhood. Every rabies shot protects people as well as pets, and every microchip is one fewer lost dog wandering Alton Road with no way to get home.

Flamingo Park is also an easy place to make an outing of it. The van sits right behind the basketball courts in the middle of South Beach, so a dog's vaccine visit can turn into a walk around the park afterward, and a cat can be home in its own window within the hour.

For many households the savings are the headline. Routine shots and a microchip are the kind of expense that gets pushed to next month, then the month after. Free, nearby and with no appointment, this removes every one of those reasons at once.

Tips for your visit

Bring proof that you live in Miami Beach, since the services are for city residents. Keep dogs on a leash and cats in a carrier: the van sits next to busy basketball courts. Go early in the day or right after the lunch hour to avoid a line, and if your pet has had vaccines before, bring the records so staff can see what is due.

If you have been putting off a booster or a microchip because of the cost, this is the fall to stop putting it off. For more on county pet programs, visit Miami-Dade Animal Services.