The regulation around wildlife in British Columbia has been a popular subject recently, but less often discussed is the subject of the animals in our own homes.
Local veterinarian and owner of Vet to Pet Dr. Kim Hunter has teamed up with the BC Spay and Neuter Outreach Society to tackle the issue of inaccessible veterinary care in the North.
“As you move farther north in the province – in all provinces, but in B.C. especially – access to resources and services becomes more scarce, and also more costly. I think that it’s important for veterinary care to be accessible and affordable to everyone, not just people who are located in the larger cities,” said Nicole Gillette, an Alberta veterinary technician student who is spearheading the project.
Gillette said she reached out to Dr. Hunter about launching the project.
“I’m fundraising to bring some spay and neuter services to northern B.C. over Aug. 13 – Aug. 19. Basically, I volunteered at an Alberta spay and neuter event, but I grew up in B.C. so I knew that there was similar need there and I thought there was something I could do about that,” she said.
“[Gillette] has a passion for spay and neuter programs because it really improves most animals’ quality of life … She started a society, and started looking for a vet that she could work with, and found me,” Dr. Hunter said.
The money raised will go toward bringing Gillette and her team of volunteers to B.C., as well as running Dr. Hunter’s mobile veterinary clinic.
“The challenge is that I can’t do it for free. There’s a lot of cost involved in the anesthetics and such, and paying staff to assist, so [Gillette is] supplying a bunch of volunteers, including herself. They’ll come in from Alberta and have got everything mastered in terms of the procedure, taking the trailer in, and ferrying pets from peoples’ homes to the trailer. Everything’s kind of in place, except the funding,” Dr. Hunter explained.
Gillette said if the fundraiser is successful, the mobile clinic will provide not only spay and neuter services, but parasite control and vaccinations.
According to Dr. Hunter, Vet to Pet has already made at least four trips north and spayed around 100 dogs and 30 cats in the Nass Valley.
“The human element is the big motivator and the goal. Just helping people with their pets… they all love them so much. The pets really bridge a gap. I might have trouble having a conversation with someone from another culture, but this is a common ground, you know? It’s easy to focus on the pet and build relationships that way,” she said.
Gillette said the campaign raised around $1,500 toward their $10,000 goal within the first four days of its launch.
“There’s a long way to go to be able to actually run this, but it’s been shared a lot. It seems like people are pretty supportive,” she said.
For those looking to contribute to the project, Gillette suggests people visit bcspayneuter.com, which provides links to their gofundme and social media pages.
“We can’t do it without the community being on board.”
