Animal health deserts in Allegheny County: where human social determinants impact pet health care access

The human social determinants of health (economics, education, health etc) impact animals, eg. pets in the home. In this lightning talk, I'll talk about how using mapping helped to identify areas of lack of veterinary access for lower income individuals who experience the negative impacts of social determinants, namely income. This is reflected in where private veterinary practices, increasingly becoming corporate owned, are located. The co-location of veterinary deserts and low income communities is identified in this map as well as where the mobile health clinics for wellness care visited in 2024. Mapping helped to identify where the clinics can visit but also where humane animal rescue pittsburgh and animal friends can hold mobile vaccine clinics for routine wellness care.