NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. — Officials with the Council on Aging of Volusia County said some of the organization's clients have pets that need to see a veterinarian, and one local woman has stepped up to fill the need.

Haley Denney, owner and operator of Pawesome Transport Services, said “depending on what their needs are, if the is pet having a mobility issue, that’s when I would use one of the stretchers or ramps or slings to try to get them in and out.”

According to the Council on Aging, more than 35 homebound clients said they would be interested in a mobile vet program.

“The agreement to bring Haley Denney as a subcontractor to help get the pets of their homebound residents to veterinary or grooming facilities is currently in its final stages,” said Heather Haroldson, director of programs at the Council on Aging of Volusia County.

Many mobile services have stopped taking new clients, Denney said.

“Usually, by the time they get to me, they’ve called so many other people,” she said. “If somebody’s a little bit more elderly and their pet has a broken leg or they’re really large or really ill, usually those kinds of calls are more the elderly population. But I’ve also had a lot of people that are stuck at work.”

Denney said she also serves as a source of emotional support for her senior clientele, especially those with pets with mobility issues.

Denney said she’s always loved animals and started volunteer work at Glencoe Veterinary Hospital in high school, then went to the University of Florida to get a degree in animal sciences.

Many people retire in Florida, so as they age, their ability to take care of responsibilities can become more difficult, said Dr. Ginger Bryant Hutchinson, a veterinarian and Denney’s mentor.

“We receive many calls throughout the week when we’re dealing with some of our clients that they are struggling to try to find a way to get to our veterinary hospital,” she said.

Having mobile resources like the one Denney provides can help mitigate these challenges, Bryant Hutchinson said.

“We’re all in this profession to help animals so, for me, it ended up being sometimes I actually had to go after work and make house calls to help people take care of their animals,” she said.

Having this service is going to be a game-changer for people who need it most, she said.

For Denney, offering the rides is not only her livelihood, but where she finds joy in life.

“A lot of my day is kind of waiting for those calls to come in,” she said, noting that most of her referrals come from emergency facilities.

If she gets a call, she gets paid by the client at a flat rate based on time of day, not distance, Denney said.

She also has set up an angel fund, and people can sponsor rides for the pets of those who may not be able to afford the service.

New Smyrna Beach couple Elaine and Ed Coursey, whose pet became paralyzed, said the dog showed increasing signs of severe pain, and they were grappling with how to get the canine transported to the vet after hours in Volusia County.

It was a relief to get help, the couple said.

“We would have never been able to get her out of the house by ourselves," Elaine Coursey said. "She weighed about 60 pounds, and she was hurting and (in) pain, and to go over to her and try to move her around caused her a lot of pain."

Denney's angel fund, or any other third-party fundraiser, is not associated with or managed by Spectrum News 13. For more information, go to the Pawesome Transport Services website.