THUNDER BAY — With limited veterinary services available in the district, pet parents were eager for a spot at a local pop-up clinic this week.
Over the course of four days, 97 cats and dogs received veterinary care at the Thunder Bay and District Humane Society as a part of their on-going mission to help address the shortage of veterinary care in the city.
“We are wrapping up our first ever pop-up public spay and neuter clinic, and we are really excited and proud to announce that we were able to accomplish 97 spay and neuters in four days,” said Shawna Beaulieu, Executive Director of the Thunder Bay and District Humane Society.
The online bookings opened-up on July 4 and were filled immediately, she said.
“When we released our appointments, they booked up all of them within four minutes,” she said.
“This clinic was truly a success, but we want to be able to keep offering these types of clinics, but that really is pending on the availability of high quality, high volume local veterinarians willing to come to Thunder Bay, which is difficult to find,” she said.
During the pop-up clinic, 71 cats and 26 dogs received spay and neuter surgeries in addition to other care, she said.
“Definitely another reason why we do more cats than dogs is also capacity, dogs take up more room, we only have so many dog kennels that we can fill up daily to operate on, where cat kennels are a lot smaller so we can fit a lot more cats in the shelter.”
“A cat spay or neuter would be quicker than a larger dog, the larger the animal, the longer the surgery,” she said.
Following the overwhelming success and positivity, Beaulieu said that the clinic is needed and wanted in the city.
“We definitely hope to do more of these in the future,” she said. “Everybody that has entered the clinic has been happy and just glad that they can finally access spay and neuter services.”
Following the four-day long blitz, the clinic plans on bringing in a veterinarian for their own adoptable animals, though securing one is not easy, Beaulieu said,
“We are fortunate to have a veterinarian from the Ontario SPCA coming in next week to help relieve some of the medical care needed for our animals,” she said.
“We have got about 50 that are waiting for spay and neuter, we have got just about a dozen that need other procedures dental surgery, eye surgery, and more. So, it just really showcases how desperate we are and how critical the veterinary shortage is in Thunder Bay.”