Petworth pet lovers now have a care option that’s not just in the neighborhood, but at their doorstep.

After a decade practicing at DC veterinary clinics, Petworth resident Dasha Perry has opened a mobile housecall vet practice called Perry Paws Mobile, bringing veterinary health care to the home. In her words, “Not everyone wants to take their cat on the metro.”

Perry has been caring for cats and dogs at Union Vet since 2019, performing everything from routine vaccines to surgeries. Over the years, she noticed that some pets arrived barking mad or completely cat-atonic from the stress of travel and the clinic environment, making it difficult to administer care. For pet owners, especially residents without cars, the journey to a vet’s office across town posed a logistical and financial challenge.

“Meeting people where they’re at – literally – is really important to me,” Perry said. “[A house call practice] increases access to care. It’s having the ability to schedule an appointment and be seen without stressing yourself or your pet out.”

Dr. Perry giving Theo a checkup at his home

Perry offers basic services like wellness check-ups, vaccines, chronic condition treatment, end-of-life conversations, behavioral consulting and urgent care needs like ear infections and diarrhea. She even offers international health certificates for jet-setting pets.

In the coming months Perry expects to “paw-tner” with a clinic to offer more complex procedures like ultrasounds and surgeries.

Perry took a circuitous path to veterinary medicine. After college she worked as a paralegal and an SAT tutor, dabbling in journalism until realizing she was barking up the wrong tree. Meeting neighbors who were vets with a mountain gorilla project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, sparked her interest in animal health.

“It was just so cool,” she said. “One day I was driving to work and thinking, ‘I want to do something like that, that challenges me every day, and is different every day’ and my mom was like, ‘Well you’ve always loved animals, what about vet school?’”

Perry started volunteering at a vet practice and ultimately completed veterinary school at Tufts University. Caring for pets turned out to be the cat’s meow.

“I never looked back,” she said. “I can't imagine doing anything else.”

Perry Paws Mobile operates Thursdays between 10am to 3pm, and will ramp up to offer service by appointment on most weekdays. While the practice is focused on Petworth and Park View, Perry will roam across DC and may expand to some Maryland neighborhoods.

“My goal is for the community to feel that when there’s something urgent going on with their pet, they don’t feel like they have to stress about the logistics of getting their sick pet to a clinic, or seeing a different doctor from the one they saw six months or a year ago,” Perry said. “They can just go to our website, book an appointment, reach out, and I can fit them in.”