Rita Fields brought her pregnant cat, Sissy, up from Des Moines to visit the Doney Memorial Pet Clinic. She had been calling around to find a clinic that would work with her budget. She has a total of five cats, and one that comes around to be fed. Neighbors even bring stray cats to her. "I just love cats, I can't help it," Fields says.

Sissy, who is about three years old and has had two litters, had been injured by a car and may have to have her tail amputated. Fields is afraid that the kittens will not be born alive.

Patients and companions will sometimes wait for hours before the doors are opened and the volunteer veterinarians see them. They are given numbers at the door, walk downstairs and wait for their number to be called for check-in. After being screened, they are asked to wait again until the veterinarians call their number. In just two hours, the volunteer vets see up to 60 pets.

"They take better care of their animals than themselves," Louise Garbe says of the men and women who bring their animals to Pioneer Square for the twice-a-month clinic.

Garbe started volunteering for the clinic when an aide at the Loyal Heights School she was teaching at suggested it. She pays the bills, sends thank-you notes to donors, screens each pet, and helps keep everything organized. Nancy Doney had kept her coming back by telling her that the patients like seeing the same person.

The clinic does what they can for every animal they see, including cats, dogs, ferrets, pigs, rabbits and gerbils. Cats and dogs are the most common animals seen at the clinic.

The Doney Memorial Pet Clinic is open only 3 - 5 p.m. on the second and fourth Saturdays of every month at the Union Gospel Mission, 318 Second Ave. Extension South. It provides free services for spayed and neutered animals, a requirement for even pure-breds. How does it stay in business? Donations and volunteers. The clinic has been at the Union Gospel Mission since opening in the mid-1980s, and has been housed in five rooms throughout the Mission. Its services are free to homeless people and those on Social Security or food stamps in the downtown Seattle area. It was first started by Charles "Bud" Doney in 1985.

After her husband's death, Nancy Doney felt she had to close the clinic because she was not a veterinarian. A newspaper article told the public about the closure, which caused a number of new volunteers to emerge. Garbe, Don Rolf, and Dr. Stanley Coe have now been with the clinic for 17 years.

Many volunteers come for their first day of work and continue coming back, for years. They provide a sense of humor and compassion for both the animals and their human companions. Some of the homeless would rather share a sleeping bag with their pet than go to a shelter where pets are not allowed.

Roxanne Kerani, who has worked at homeless shelters and the Humane Society, started volunteering at the Clinic around Christmas, after seeing an article in The Seattle Times.

"This is a perfect volunteering opportunity for me," Kerani, an epidemiologist at Harborview Medical Center, says.

Carol Dougherty has been with the clinic for a while now too. She brings her 11-year-old daughter, Hannah, in. Hannah helps out by placing notices for the Doney Clinic in veterinarian offices around the area.

Stanley Coe is the veterinarian doctor who volunteers his time on as many Saturdays as he can. Coe had worked for the Elliot Bay Animal Hospital for many years. He has had two heart attacks, but is still excited to be working with animals and enjoys being with their companions, the people who bring their pets in to be treated. When the services provided by the Doney Clinic won't help, the Elliot Bay Animal Hospital Seattle Surgical Clinic, and the Seattle-King County Veterinary Association will offer their own services. The hospital and clinic provide emergency and surgical services, while a steering committee helps to keep volunteers coming to the clinic.

Though volunteers continue coming, donations have been down. Sometimes, after seeing 51 patients, only $7.00 will be in the donation jar placed on the desk where Garbe and other volunteers check everyone in. Garbe says that the clinic is looking for a grant that would allow them to get their own place. It is difficult to load and unload the food and equipment, and they have no storage space at the mission. n

The clinic accepts donations of lightly used carriers, leashes, toys, litter boxes, collars, and scratching posts. Food and monetary donations for medicines are also encouraged. For donation pick up, please contact Carol Dougherty at cdougherty48@ yahoo.com. Monetary donations can be sent to Louise Garbe at 4351 - 29th Ave. W., Seattle, WA 98199.