Dr. Matt Carriker and his Vet Ranch team understand all too well the dangers that stray animals face. Not only are they at risk of illness or injury on the street; more than 50% of shelter pets are euthanized before finding a home.
Raised by an old school vet who selflessly donated his services to animals in need, Dr. Matt was stunned when he learned just how many dogs and cats were dying in shelters.
Many of these pets are deemed difficult to adopt or even un-adoptable because of medical problems like skin conditions, dental issues and physical handicaps. Dr. Matt knew that if he could just find the funding to clean them up a bit, he could get them into forever homes. He told the High Plains Journal:
“Every vet has taken a handful of animals under their wing and completed surgeries or treatments for free just because they want to help, but we can’t do that every time. We can’t afford it. We have families to feed and bills to pay,”
As a vet student at Texas A & M, Dr. Matt had started his own YouTube channel centered around gun safety called Demolition Ranch. It was an instant success and now has more than 2 million subscribers.
He wondered if a channel about guns could gain so much attention, what could one devoted to saving dogs and cats accomplish? Based on that question, Vet Ranch was born.
Dr. Matt’s mission is to pull pets in need of veterinary care from shelters and rescues, get them healthy, and find them loving homes. With a slogan like “We’re Gonna Fix ‘Em All!” it’s clear that he is an incurable optimist. Luckily for the animals he campaigns for, he is also extremely charismatic, genuinely likable and darn good at his job!
More than 776,000 people now subscribe to Vet Ranch’s YouTube channel, tuning in to watch the miracles that Dr. Matt and his colleagues perform every day. Among the inspiring success stories are three-legged dogs, pregnant mama cats, horses with dental issues, and homeless hedgehogs.
More than just watching the videos, the public has embraced Dr. Matt’s vision allowing him to rescue “as many animals as he wants” thanks to the generous donations sent from all over the world. His dream is to someday be able to work solely on rescuing homeless pets.
“The way I see it is any vet can vaccinate a dog. If I don’t vaccinate a dog, the owner will drive them to another vet clinic and they’ll give them vaccines, but not just any vet can fix homeless dogs because they don’t have the funds to do it. If I’m not there to fix a homeless dog, it might not get fixed and it might get euthanized instead. I think I can serve a better purpose doing this.”
For now, though, Dr. Matt and his three Vet Ranch colleagues hold full-time jobs as Texas veterinarians and spend up to 30 extra hours per week caring for homeless pets in need.
Vet Ranch is a 100% non-profit effort that exists because people like the Vet Ranch docs and their donors care enough to fight for the lives of innocent animals.
Follow their amazing rescue endeavors on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Click here to donate to the cause.
Toledo, United States.
