Pet owners looking for affordable vaccinations have a new option this weekend as Pima Community College’s Vet Tech Club hosts a low-cost dog vaccine clinic Feb. 21 at the East Campus.

The student-run event will offer rabies, distemper-parvo and Bordetella vaccines at reduced prices, with services provided by volunteers from Pima’s Veterinary Technician program.

The clinic will offer deep discounts on vaccines. Appointments are preferred, but walk-in patients will also be considered.

At many veterinary offices, a rabies vaccine and appointment can cost upward of $70. Pima’s Vet Tech Club is offering the rabies vaccine for $15, with Bordetella and distemper-parvo costing $20.

Other available services include heartworm testing, microchips, Valley fever testing and bloodwork panels.

“The proceeds help fund our scholarship program,” said club President and second-year student Emily Ahern, who has been a volunteer with Phoenix’s “Wild at Heart” Raptor Clinic since she was 11.

Everyone enrolled in Pima’s vet tech program is also a member of the club, Ahern said. With more than 80 participants, first-year students are given the option to volunteer with the club, while second-year students take on leadership roles.

(The event) “will help pay for the exams we have to take,” Ahern said, explaining that whatever proceeds are left after covering the cost of clinic services will be added to the program’s scholarship fund and given to students to help pay for their certification exams.

It can cost more than $500 to become a certified veterinary technician in Arizona.

In major cities like Tucson, veterinary clinics are common. However, in other parts of Pima County, clinics are fewer and certified veterinary technicians are in short supply. As a result, graduates of the program do not always work in areas with the greatest need for care.

Vice President Evelyn Young is a member of the Tohono O’odham Nation and works for the tribe’s clinic, despite still being a student, as there are very few certified veterinary technicians on the Nation.

Organizers hope the clinic will encourage more people to support veterinary technician training programs like the one at PCC and to better understand the importance of animal vaccines and other preventive care.

Even if a pet is not at risk of falling ill, transmission of diseases like distemper and rabies can be fast.

“Puppies are particularly susceptible, because they don’t have an immunity built up,” Ahern said. “Getting (diseases) from wildlife can be very common.”

That focus on prevention is what drew some students to the program.

Club treasurer Kiki Bull said she joined the program so that she could learn how to take care of her many cats. At 19, she is one of the youngest second-year students in the program.

The Vet Tech Club plans to host future events for the public.

Quentin Agnello is a University of Arizona alum and freelance journalist in Tucson. Contact him at qsagnello@gmail.com.

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