Staff at Petroplygh Animal Hospital in Nanaimo have been slammed caring for pets. The facility isn't currently accepting new clients. (Petroplyph Animal Hospital.)

By Ian Holmes

pet panic

Nanaimo vet clinics strained by labour shortage

Jul 14, 2021 | 5:25 AM

NANAIMO — A long time employee of a south Nanaimo veterinary clinic says more professionals are required to care for sick and injured pets.

Erika Boulet, manager of Petroglyph Animal Hospital, said Nanaimo’s dozen vet clinics are all struggling to keep up with demand, often leading to frustrated, and at times verbally abusive pet owners.

“We can only handle so much,” she told NanaimoNewsNOW. “Sometimes we do need to triage and pick what needs to be seen sooner than later and that causes a lot of disappointment.”

Boulet said their appointments doubled during the pandemic as more people decided to be pet owners.

She said daily urgent care spots left vacant are always filled.

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A troubling trickle-down effect in play is linked to Vancouver Island’s three busy 24/7 emergency pet hospitals, including one in Nanaimo, Boulet said.

“Unfortunately with them not having the ability to take more of the urgent care cases someone has to do it so now that’s falling back on the general practices to do our part to help the emergency clinic.”

Boulet’s clinic is owned by VetStrategy, owner of 200 animal clinics across Canada.

She regularly talks to colleagues across Vancouver Island and Canada who report similar challenges to what’s happening in Nanaimo.

On top of a severe labour shortage, Boulet said a growing problem facing their industry is dealing with people struggling to meet the financial needs of ailing pets.

“If we’re trying to do an urgent care case and we’re spending 90 per cent of our time going over finances with the owner, we’re not able to do our job.”

British Columbia doesn’t have a post secondary institution to train veterinarians.

Boulet said critically important vet technician programs only produce at most 20 graduates in B.C. annually.

She noted recruiting vets and technicians to Vancouver Island is challenging due to the high cost of living.

The Canadian Animal Health Institute estimated earlier this year 58 per cent of Canadian households contain at least one dog or cat.

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ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes