The veterinarian who chose community: Where compassion, medicine, and life come together
Dr. Jerald Camba turned personal loss into New Creation Animal Clinic in San Fernando, La Union — building accessible vet care, free spay/neuter drives, and second chances for rescued cats Reiki and Love.
ANIMAL WELFARE
PJ Valenciano
8/12/20264 min read
Practicing medicine with purpose
Veterinary medicine is built on science, knowledge, and years of disciplined training. Every consultation, every diagnosis, and every procedure calls for careful judgment and steady hands. For Dr. Jerald Camba, these responsibilities have always come with another commitment — making veterinary care accessible, and helping communities understand that an animal's well-being begins long before it ever reaches a clinic.
As a practicing veterinarian, he has spent years caring for companion animals and guiding the families who love them. Every patient is a chance to heal. Every conversation is a chance to encourage responsible pet ownership, preventive care, and compassion. These values continue to shape New Creation Animal Clinic and the partnerships that have grown around it.
Dr. Jerald enjoying some cuddles with his patients
Seeing what others look away from
While gaining experience in veterinary medicine in Hong Kong, Dr. Jerald faced a deeply personal loss when his own dogs could not receive the emergency care they needed.
Rather than let that moment define what was possible, it clarified the kind of veterinary service he wanted to build — one where families could find timely, compassionate care in the moments they needed it most.
That promise found its home in San Fernando, La Union, through New Creation Animal Clinic, where veterinary medicine is guided by accessibility, compassion, and service to the community.
A promise born from loss
Returning to the Philippines also meant seeing realities that called for action. Animals injured along the roadside. Cats living with untreated illness. Families doing their best to care for their pets with limited resources and limited access to care.
Among the images that weighed on him most were young kittens whose lives ended on busy roads before they ever had the chance to grow.
"Hindi ko na kayang makita ang sobrang daming kuting na nasasagasaan."
That conviction shaped the direction of his work. Preventing suffering became just as important as treating illness. Education became part of every consultation. Community outreach became a natural extension of veterinary practice.
Building a community around care
New Creation Animal Clinic continues to grow through the relationships it has built — with pet owners, volunteers, educators, students, local organizations, and fellow advocates.
Those collaborations expanded through the Pawsion Program, opening the door to free and low-cost spay and neuter initiatives, vaccination drives, educational campaigns, and community outreach. Every partnership reflects a shared belief: animal welfare flourishes when communities work together.
The clinic has also become a place where veterinary students gain hands-on experience, volunteers find new ways to serve, and families find guidance in caring for the animals who depend on them.
Compassion beyond the consultation room
The values that guide Dr. Jerald Camba's work don't end at New Creation Animal Clinic. They're reflected in the choices he makes every day, as a veterinarian and as someone who believes every animal deserves the chance to live with dignity, care, and love.
Among the animals who became part of his own family is Reiki, a senior cat adopted through Pawsome Paws Community. Senior cats are often overlooked — most families gravitate toward kittens. Reiki's story went a different way. Dr. Jerald opened his home to him, giving him a comfortable, secure place to spend his senior years.
Reiki's adoption reflects a belief that compassion doesn't end with treatment. It also means giving an animal the chance to belong, regardless of age or circumstance. The same values that guide Dr. Jerald inside the consultation room follow him home.
Another member of the Pawsome Paws Community has become part of that story, too.
Love first came under Dr. Jerald's care after being diagnosed with kidney stones, which required surgery and ongoing medical management. Throughout his treatment and recovery, Love received the same careful attention every patient deserves — a reminder that healing is often a journey, not a single procedure.
His story is still unfolding. Plans are underway for Love to eventually make New Creation Animal Clinic his home, letting the place that restored his health become part of his everyday life. It's a fitting next chapter for a cat shaped by compassion, medicine, and people who refused to give up on him.
Together, Reiki and Love reflect the values that continue to shape Dr. Jerald's work. One found a family. The other found healing, with a home waiting in the near future. Both are reminders that veterinary medicine extends beyond diagnosis and treatment — it lives on in lasting relationships, shared responsibility, and a commitment to letting every animal live a healthier, more meaningful life.
Compassion, medicine, and life
Dr. Jerald Camba's work continues to grow through the relationships he has built with pet owners, students, volunteers, fellow advocates, and community partners. Every consultation, every educational activity, every outreach program and partnership reflects a shared commitment to improving the lives of animals while encouraging responsible pet ownership and accessible veterinary care. That same commitment shapes his life beyond the clinic.
Compassion is reflected in the way animals are cared for. Medicine provides the knowledge and skill that make healing possible. Life remains at the heart of every effort to strengthen the bond between people and their animal companions.
Through New Creation Animal Clinic, the Pawsion Program, community partnerships, and the people who continue to work alongside him, Dr. Jerald has helped create opportunities for animals to receive care, for families to learn, and for communities to become active participants in animal welfare.
The veterinarian who chose community is more than the story of a profession. It's the story of a veterinarian who continues to build a practice where compassion, medicine, and life come together — one patient, one family, and one community at a time.