Dog’s death highlights vet shortage in province

BRANDON — A Brandon couple is calling for better emergency veterinary care in the Westman area after their dog died in their truck while rushing to a clinic in Winnipeg.

Barb and Donald Lair weren’t able to have their six-year-old Doberman seen locally two Saturdays ago. The dog went from “perfectly healthy to dead” in under two hours, Barb Lair said.

“Nobody is willing to help in (the Brandon) area because there’s no vets,” she said.

She said she knows there’s a shortage of veterinarians in the province, but feels there should be local options on weekends and after hours, eliminating the need for a desperate two-hour-plus drive for emergency services in Winnipeg.

The Manitoba Veterinary Medical Association told the Brandon Sun that there are only two 24-7 veterinary hospitals in the province, both located in Winnipeg.

“The state of emergency veterinary services in Manitoba, particularly outside of Winnipeg, is indeed concerning, primarily due to a critical shortage of veterinary professionals,” Michelle Kusano, communications and event co-ordinator for the association, wrote in an email.

April 20 started like any other Saturday for the Lairs and their two Doberman pinschers — Billy Jean and Tres.

Donald Lair began his regular routine, taking both dogs in his truck to let them walk along the trails of one of the properties he manages in the Brandon Hills.

But after both dogs hopped out of the vehicle, he noticed something was wrong with the usually exuberant Tres. He was initially sitting but, when Lair approached, slumped onto his side, struggling to breathe.

He put the dogs back in the truck, drove to an area with better cell service and, as he called his wife, the dog’s condition seemed to improve.

They decided, based on the episode and the distressed look in the animal’s eyes, that he should be seen by a vet. Phone calls to multiple closed clinics were met with recorded messages.

The one with an emergency line where someone answered the phone, said they couldn’t help and advised them to head to Winnipeg.

During the drive, Tres began vomiting but seemed to rally after one of several highway stops they made to let him out of the truck.

About a third of the way to Winnipeg, Barb Lair looked back at Tres and got her husband to pull over again.

“I think something’s wrong — I don’t think he’s breathing,” she recalled saying. “And he was gone, just like that.”

It would have been the second time they had to take Tres to Winnipeg for emergency care. He needed gastrointestinal surgery the first time.

Grand Valley Animal Clinic practice manager Angela Innes said in an email that calls outside of regular business hours are assessed by a triage service to determine if they are emergencies.

Innes, who declined an interview request, said that in some “rare cases” the clinic may be able to help someone whose animal is not a regular patient, their regular vet is not available and the lone practitioner working on after-hours emergencies at Grand Valley has time.

“We understand that the community would like us to expand these services to benefit the broader region,” she wrote. “However, like many veterinary clinics across Manitoba, we are facing a shortage of veterinarians and support staff, restricting our ability to extend our emergency services beyond our current capacity.”

Kusano said the Manitoba Veterinary Medical Association does not require clinics to provide after-hours care to avoid burning out the limited number of practitioners and risk contributing to a clinic’s decision to close in underserved communities.

“Many pet owners throughout Manitoba, including in the Brandon area, must travel to Winnipeg or Saskatoon for emergency care during off-hours and weekends,” she said.

The lack of financial incentives for vets to work in areas outside of the Winnipeg region contributes to the problem, noting that Saskatchewan, Alberta, Ontario and the United States operate programs to encourage them to practise in rural and underserved areas.

Barb Lair acknowledged that she has no way of knowing whether Tres would have survived if he had been seen by a vet in Brandon, but he’d obviously have been better off on an examination table instead of the back seat of their truck.

“I know some people will say they’re just dogs, they’re just pets,” she said. “But they’re not, they’re family members.”

— Brandon Sun