Clinics in Remote Communities

Working to help animals in remote communities is an important part of the VHS mandate. On the weekend of May 5-7, our Executive Director Penny Stone along with 2 vet volunteers and 3 vet assistant volunteers, attended a wellness clinic in Saik’uz (near Vanderhoof). At this clinic, 49 dogs and 10 cats had health exams, were vaccinated, given rabies shots, and were dewormed and/or microchipped. No spay or neuters were performed on this trip as these surgeries are performed at dedicated clinics.

Four additional volunteers were local, plus another volunteer veterinarian flew up from Nanaimo with our partner organization, which in this case was Spirit’s Mission. This vet ended up adopting one of the six dogs that were surrendered to us during this trip — she fell in love and we love happy endings!

Another important aspect of our clinics is teaching the community how to care for their animals. In addition to this teaching, we also taught kids how to build their own doghouses. While we would, of course, prefer that all dogs have access to the inside, it’s just not always the case in the North and so we were able to show children how important it is for their pets to have a way to come in from the cold and rain in a fun and collaborative way.