Eileen Samitz's annual fall vacation is a bit of a busman's holiday. While away from her regular job as a clinical microbiologist at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, she spends her week off soliciting and gathering donations for the hospital's annual holiday pet basket project, which benefits the pets of the homeless.

This year Samitz and other staff volunteers collected canned and dry food, treats, toys and leashes for 130 holiday-wrapped boxes. Eighty of the boxes were filled for dogs and 50 for cats, all distributed Dec. 9 to the homeless clients and their pets who frequent Mercer Clinic at the nonprofit Loaves and Fishes facility in Sacramento.

Providing the holiday baskets is an 11-year-old tradition, initiated by the staff of the VMTH Voice, the hospital's staff newsletter. Samitz has been involved since the program began and has served for the past seven years as the project coordinator. Pet product companies provide the food and some of the other pet or veterinary products, while other donations for toys and treats come in from the community. This year PDQ in Davis donated the boxes, the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital provided leashes, and other donations came from Davis Girl Scout Troop 1765 and from Davis' News Beat.

"We really count on the generosity of the community in raising money for this project," Samitz said. "The most important gifts — for the pets and their owners — are the toys. The food will be gone soon, but they'll still have the toys."

The project now requires $1,500 to $2,000 to cover the cost of the toys and treats, she said. More donations are still needed to make ends meet for this year. But it isworth every penny of it to make sure that the homeless clients and their pets get to share a bit of holiday cheer, Samitz said.

"These special pets really deserve a Christmas too," she said.

The hospital staff members partner with veterinary students in assembling and distributing the boxes.

Mercer Clinic is open on the second Saturday of each month at Loaves and Fishes. The C Street facility includes veterinary exam rooms and a laboratory. The veterinary students are joined at the clinic by veterinary faculty from UC Davis, as well as local veterinarians, in examining and treating pets whose owners are homeless.

The clinic has a steady stream of regular clients, with 50 to 80 animals examined each month, said Valerie Welch, a second-year veterinary student and Mercer Clinic's president for public relations.

"There's a group of ladies there very early when the clinic opens, who always greet me when I go to open the gate, " said Welch. Like most of the Mercer Clinic clients, the ladies are very conscientious about caring for their pets, she noted.

"It's really hard if you don't have a roof over your head, but they do the best they can with their pets," Welch said.

One of the clinic's most popular services is vaccinations, particularly for puppies and kittens. It also offers preventive treatment for fleas and heartworm, as well as treatment for fleas, allergies and upper respiratory illnesses.

On the more serious side, it is not uncommon for Mercer Clinic patients to have cancers, parvovirus and feline leukemia. When an animal is diagnosed with a serious ailment or injury, the owner is referred to a private veterinary clinic that offers reduced-cost services or to the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. Mercer Clinic pays the bill for any of the services that must be reimbursed.

There are times when the Mercer Clinic volunteers must break the news to a client that a pet should be euthanized.

"It can be difficult, but it's a good experience for students to learn how to deal with grief," Welch said.

Like most veterinary students, Welch has little free time on her hands, but Mercer Clinic is a priority.

"I consider it part of my education," she said.

And for many staff members at the teaching hospital, the basket project for the animals of Mercer Clinic is part of their holiday celebration. Regular volunteers who make the annual event happen include VMTH Voice staff members Marcia Nelson, Becky Griffey, Ester Finn, Candi Stafford, Shirley Martin, Deborah Nelson and Cindy Lewis. Other helpers this year included Judy Wall, Marion Derby, Stacey Zindel Peters, Dawn Cauthen, Marcia Reemts, Marty Ynostronoza, Matt Nichols, Xavier Mancilla, Dianne Nayden, Monica Kratochvil, and Rosemary Motz.

Samitz and Welch stressed that there is a year-round need for donations from the community for Mercer Clinic's ongoing services, as well as for the annual holiday pet basket project.

Members of the campus and Davis community can lend a hand by sending tax-deductible donations to Mercer Pet Clinic for the Homeless, P.O. Box 297, Davis, CA 95617.

Donations specifically for the Holiday Pet Basket Program, which also are tax deductible, should be sent to UCD VMTH Business Annex, Financial Services - Room 110, Davis CA 95616, Attn. Deborah Nelson