Our Clinic
Our Animal Welfare Clinic is situated at 23 The Stow, Harlow, Essex CM20 3AN – Map
The Stort Valley Branch is run by our lovely staff and volunteers. As a separately registered charity and branch of the RSPCA, we rely on local donations and the income from our shop in Bishops Stortford to enables us to provide a limited, subsidised welfare service.
Our clinic offers basic services such as health checks, vaccinations and care at subsidised rates.
As a responsible pet owner, you will already be registered with a veterinary practice that can offer your animal the full range of veterinary services. This is a pre-requisite for registering with us.
Our branch area extends from Saffron Walden Essex to Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, including Bishop’s Stortford, Harlow and the villages surrounding this corridor.
Opening Times
Monday 10.00am – 3.30pm
Tuesday 10.00am – 3.30pm
Wednesday 10.00am – 3.30pm
Thursday 10.00am – 3.30pm
Friday CLOSED
These hours will vary sometimes depending on the availability of our team, especially during school holidays.
Stray animals and rehoming
We do not have any facilities to take in unwanted or stray animals. Please do not bring these to the clinic. For unwanted animals, please contact your local animal rescue centre. For strays, lost or found pets, you can report online to Harlow Council, or call the Harlow Council Environmental team. If a dog is stray and is either on the list of dangerous dogs or has bitten anyone, you must inform the police too.
Animal Welfare services
As well as providing subsidised consultations and treatments, we also offer vaccinations and our nurse can help with microchipping, nails, ears, glands and advice.
For more information regarding vaccinating your pets, please refer to RSPCA Vaccinating Your Pet advice
Our clinic does not have the facilities to carry out neutering, but you may be able to get help from Cats Protection, the Blue Cross or other animal charities.
We can’t treat animals who have sustained a significant injury, nor emergencies. These should be taken to your primary vet.
Clients – qualifying criteria
The clinic is only for people in receipt of a means-tested benefit. This includes Income Based Job Seekers Allowance, Income Based Employment Support Allowance, Housing Benefit, Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit. Senior citizens in receipt of a State Pension are also eligible to use our services.
We will ask you to prove your eligibility at registration and periodically thereafter. If you stop receiving the benefit, please tell us so that we can de-register your pet and help us to use our limited funds to help those in greatest need.
We are here to help people who struggle to afford essential care for their pets. We do not accept clients who are breeding or in any other way profiting from their animals. We prefer that your pets are neutered to avoid accidents.
We are a limited service provider and do not have operating, imaging or boarding facilities. All our clients must also be registered with a veterinary practice that is able to offer a full range of veterinary services.
We recognise that some of our neighbouring branches do not have RSPCA clinics and we are happy to see clients from neighbouring branch areas when our capacity allows. We hope that this will help many more animals and their owners.
You can check whether you are inside our branch area using our postcode List & maps.
Consultation Charges
There is a consultation charge payable at each visit to see the vet or the nurse. Treatments and procedures each have a cost.
| Price List from 01 June 2024 | |
| inc VAT, £ | |
| Consultations | |
| First consultation – all animals | 30.00 |
| Follow-up with a vet (same condition, within 1 month) | 22.00 |
| Follow-up with a nurse, when possible | 12.50 |
| Minor procedures | |
| Nurse check-up or nails, glands, ears, etc | 12.50 |
| Microchipping – cat or dog (by the nurse) | 10.00 |
| Vaccinations | |
| Dog – full course of two vaccinations | 55.00 |
| Cat – full course of two vaccinations | 65.00 |
| Dog – annual booster and health check | 35.00 |
| Cat- annual booster and health check | 40.00 |
| Vaccinations – other animals | drugs price + consultation |
| Other procedures, tests, treatments & drugs
We’ll tell you the expected and potential costs before treatment, as far as possible. Our prices rise and fall with the cost to us. |
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| Ordering in advance
For some drugs that we don’t often use or that have a high cost, we may need to pre-order and ask you to pay in advance. |
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For repeat prescriptions, you can phone us your order and collect when the vet is in attendance. The vet is required by law to see your pet periodically before continuing a prescription and this will require a consultation at the normal price.
We treat wildlife free of charge.
We can accept payment by cash, debit/credit cards or online.
What to do if your pet is unwell outside of our clinic hours or in an emergency
Please contact your primary vet’s emergency service. If your primary vet is unable to help, you can contact our emergency service provider, Forest Veterinary Hospital in Epping on 01992 575790.
Forest Veterinary Centre is a private veterinary practice, who provide our out of hours, night time and weekend emergency services. Their charges will be significantly higher than the subsidised charges at our clinic. The RSPCA is unable to provide financial assistance for treatments at Forest or other primary vets; clients are responsible for payment of all fees in full at the time of the treatment.
The RSPCA national website also has useful information on how to find or call a vet Find a vet for treatment, advice and emergencies
Right to refuse services
We expect good behaviour from both pets and humans at all times. Be nice to our team, they want to help you if they can. If you can’t behave nicely, go elsewhere.
RSPCA Stort Valley Branch may decline to register, refuse to service, withdraw service from, or terminate, the registration of a client or an animal at our discretion and without notice. We will give the reason for termination. Decisions made by the Trustees are final and without any further right of appeal.