B.C. running short on vets, SPCA solution hinges on government cash

The number of animals in B.C. households is outpacing the ability of veterinarians to take care of them. It's a shortage we were told to expect but it's arrived early due to COVID-19. David Zura explains.

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — B.C. is short hundreds of veterinarians and it’s a problem that will eventually affect the health and happiness of animals, but there is a fairly simple solution, according to the BC SPCA.

Demand for services way outpaces the number of trained professionals the province has, according to Dr. Hatley McMicking, who heads up veterinary services for the BC SPCA. She expects B.C. to be short 500 veterinarians by 2024.

The vet shortage is being especially felt in the more remote, northern communities.

“For example, Prince George, the veterinarians there, they can’t take new clients because they’re so busy,” MacMicking said. “And where else can people go? It’s a remote town, and they have to drive hours if they need something. And people are already driving hours to get Prince George for that care, to begin with.”

McMicking says the impact on our animal friend’s across the province is already being felt.

“In the Lower Mainland, we are booking into August for spays and neuters and dentistry — and that’s just our clinics alone. I’m hearing from tons and tons of my colleagues that they are jam-packed busy. And while we’d love to be able to see more animals, they just don’t have enough people and staff and enough veterinarians to take on more caseload,” she says.

“Truthfully, the most dire consequences are that animals suffer and don’t receive medical care and can potentially die.”

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Part of the problem is that B.C. doesn’t have its own veterinary college. Instead, students from B.C. can fill one of 20 reserved spaces at the vet college in Saskatoon.

“In order to be able to go to the veterinary schools in Canada, you often have to be a resident in that province. And so, since we don’t have that school, we have to be able to work and collaborate with other provinces to be able to put aspiring veterinarians through school. And furthermore, while there’s many schools in the U.S., it’s incredibly expensive to go to school there. And many people just can’t afford it,” she explains.

“We’re asking the government to understand that if they really are investing in the welfare of animals, as well as public health, we need veterinarians to be looking at food safety and health inspection. I mean, it goes beyond just dogs and cats. If they really are investing their resources and time and caring about B.C. animals and the people who care for them, they will help fund these 20 seats.”

That number of vets could easily double, which would partly address the shortage, but the province would have to kick in about $8.3 million per year in additional funding.

For now, McMicking is asking pet owners to be “patient and kind.”

“If people are taking their animals to a veterinarian, and they can’t get in, just know it’s not because we don’t want to see their animals. It’s because truly, we don’t have the capacity anymore.”

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