Once again, the dogs — and cats and rats (!) — of Occupy Wall Street are grrrateful to Darwin Animal Doctors (DAD) for offering free veterinary exams last night at Zuccotti Park.

As reported here and here, DAD — a 501(c)(3) nonprofit — iscommitted tohelping make sure the protesters’ pets stay healthy and safe for as long as they stand their ground out there.

DAD has been tireless in galvanizing support from near, far, and widefor the protesters’ pets. One veterinary technician, Stephanie Figueroa, drove in from Philadelphia to help; another vet tech, Adrien Zap, who recently returned from a stint of volunteering for DADin the Galapagos,camein from Connecticut.

“All the organizers walked around the whole night organizing the patients and giving order to the chaos, even when the temperature dropped into the thirties in half an hour,” marvels Tod Emko, DAD’s fearless leader. “Some walked around holding up huge signs for the campaign even though it must not have been comfortable.”

In all, 10 animals were treated, including six dogs, one cat, and three pet rats. That’s Konstantine Barsky of Brooklyn’s Hope Vet in the photos, who — with his vet tech KimmyMazzola — has been helping out at Z Park for two weeks now.

“We vaccinated, gave dewormer (Panacur), Frontline (and Neem treatments for those who didn’t want chemical treatments), dog food, blankets for dogs/cat/rats, and official vet-notated patient records, along with vaccination record stickers, to all patients,” Tod says. “We ran out of pretty much EVERYTHING.So we need more of all of it! Especially dewormer, Frontline, and (for anyone who wants to ask their vet) vaccinations.”

Tod is hoping that veterinarians will consider donating short-dated antiparasite medications and vaccinations to DAD for this OWS campaign. Make a donation here.

This column will keep you posted on DAD’s next visit to Z Park.

Thanks to OWS volunteer Tia Foster for the photographs.