Burnout and staffing challenges leave local pet owners without emergency care

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Burnout and staffing challenges are making it so pet owners in Grey-Bruce will have to drive over an hour to an emergency vet clinic to get potentially life-saving care for their animals.

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“I’ve never had an emergency happen between the hours of 9 to 5, Monday to Friday,” said Candice Christian, who operates Just Woof It Rescue. “With past emergencies, I’ve had to drive up to 45 minutes away to rush my pet into the on-call vet clinic that was supplying the emergency services. I was in sheer panic . . . we are not talking a matter of an hour here – Guelph is the closest to me and that alone is a two-hour drive that I can’t imagine making when my pet is in dire need.”

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Recently, a group of eight local veterinarian clinics informed clients they will no longer provide on-call emergency care after Nov.15. Pet owners in the region faced with an emergency will either have to drive to an open emergency clinic in cities like Barrie, Guelph, and several in the GTA, or call a third-party tele-triage service for help and guidance.

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A spokesperson for the College of Veterinarians of Ontario said the problem facing pet owners in Grey-Bruce is hardly unique.

“Ontario has been experiencing a significant shortage of veterinarians in recent years. The challenges in Grey-Bruce are also happening in many other regions of the province and across Canada. In fact, many areas do not have access to a primary care veterinarian at all.  It is a challenging and stressful time for both animal owners and veterinary practices,” said Kim Huson, executive partner of communications for the CVO.

Earlier this year the CVO established an after-hours veterinary care task force to provide input to the college council on current and emerging patterns in the provision of after-hours care in Ontario, Huson said. The hope is the task force will identify potential solutions to the staffing and burnout issues facing the profession.

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“Regulators have a mandate to assure the public that licensed members are practising safely and competently. This involves attention to the mental and emotional well-being of licensed members,” Huson said.

“I know that most other vet clinics are in the same situation – understaffed and run off their feet,” Christian said. “So, if one clinic can’t fulfill their on-call emergency time slot then that leaves the rest of the clinics to pick up the slack. I spoke to two vet clinics in our area and both confirmed that this was the case.”

Until then, the local veterinarians are following regulations when directing clients to clinics upwards of two hours away or to a phone number to receive care over the telephone.

In Ontario, an individual veterinary practice must make appropriate arrangements to provide necessary medical services outside of regular business hours to their clients. There is a wide array of options to cover this responsibility of “reasonably prompt” services outside of regular practice hours including referral to another licensed veterinarian, shared on-call coverage, referral to an accredited 24/7 facility, an emergency clinic or a tele-triage service.

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“The College does not define what would be considered ‘reasonably prompt’ as it can vary by geographic region and the services available in and around that region,” Huson said. “Our understanding is that the eight veterinary clinics in Grey-Bruce have informed their clients they will be referred to a tele-triage service and potentially to an emergency clinic for after-hours care. These options are among those that are permitted. If a situation arises where a member of the public believes their veterinarian has not fulfilled their regulatory obligations, they can contact the College.”

That’s exactly what Christian from Just Woof It has set out to do. She shared a form letter to social media and encouraged others with concerns to send the letter to the college’s complaint department with the aim of pressuring those involved to come to a solution and continue to provide emergency care locally.

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“I had read a lot of comments that people were making – blaming the veterinarians and clinics . . . people worrying about the future of their pets, people that don’t drive. By posting the letter, I found it gave people a chance to make a complaint easily, to the point and feel like they were being heard,” she said. “I have heard from a lot of other rescues, shelters, kennels and other people in the ‘animal world’ about how concerning not having an after-hours emergency service is and how we will handle the unknown.”

Christian said her house is full of senior and health-compromised animals, “the unadoptables” she calls them. She worries the lack of emergency vet services in the area will branch out and lead to other issues.

“I worry that people will not be so inclined to adopt a pet from a shelter or rescue,” she said. “Most local clinics aren’t even accepting new patients since the last few years, let alone being able to provide the on-call after-hours emergency service . . .  If we had a 24-hour emergency clinic, it could support the greater area as far as Collingwood to Kincardine, both only an hour away from centrally located Owen Sound.  People as far south as Shelburne may use it as well, being only an hour away.”

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