THUNDER BAY — Relying on costly locum veterinarians to run the Thunder Bay District Humane Society’s (TBDHS) spay and neuter clinic, executive director Shawna Beaulieu, said the non-profit organization is “actively pursuing” a permanent veterinarian to fill the position.
She said the challenge of finding a permanent veterinarian is because of the shortage of veterinarians across North America.
“We need to have a veterinarian that's interested in working in shelter medicine, that's interested in working in Thunder Bay, and that's interested in learning or who knows how to do high volume surgery,” Beaulieu said.
Beaulieu likened the shortage of experienced veterinarians to the shortage of health-care professionals in hospitals across the region.
When asked if the humane society has tried incentivizing newly graduated veterinary students to come to Thunder Bay, Beaulieu pointed out that “with the right mentors” that would be a possibility.
For the time being, with the overpopulation of animals the organization is seeing in the area, they would need an experienced veterinarian to keep up with the high volume of surgeries.
Therefore, to keep their clinic operational they need to hire agency locum veterinarians which runs up a hefty price for an organization that relies heavily on donations from the public.
“Thanks to PetSmart charities and all the donors that we have and to a community that loves their pets, we were fortunate to be able to offer public spay and neuter services for five years, so from 2019 all the way to 2024,” Beaulieu said.
“Our public clinic allowed us to grow a lot as an organization, so it's extremely important. Most importantly, it really allowed us to grow a connection to our community and that's what motivates us to continue trying to grow and expand on our efforts to be able to help animals in need as well as our community."
