The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
SPCA to open new Dartmouth animal hospital
A new animal hospital is opening in Dartmouth that will give pet owners access to veterinary care for their animal companions regardless of their financial situations.
Located at 7 Scarfe Court, the SPCA Veterinary Hospital is slated to open in early 2021.
The Nova Scotia SPCA believes it will be the first fullservice social enterprise hospital in eastern Canada.
Services offered at the notfor-profit veterinary facility will include medical, surgical, wellness and preventive health care.
According to Kellie Haggett, a veterinarian with the Nova Scotia SPCA, the animal welfare charity has been offering a spay and neuter program for low-income pet owners since 2013 and the idea of expanding it to offer more services has long “been in the back of our minds.”
Haggett said it was the help of Petsmart Charities of Canada that helped get that idea off the ground at such “great timing” — amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that has caused financial strife for so many Nova Scotians.
“Over the last couple of years, we've seen a lot of animals … being turned over, relinquished or given to the SPCA for medical reasons — animals that require medical conditions that the owners just don't have the funds to take care of anymore,” she said.
“We just want to keep animals with their people and allow them to have another place to go to, as opposed to realizing, ‘I can't afford this medical condition' and surrendering them to us.”
The SPCA Veterinary Hospital will be able to access funds to supplement the cost of vet bills for pet owners who can't afford the full amount.
One stream of the new financial assistance program is strictly for low-income earners and another is for pet owners who aren't necessarily low-income earners but can't afford to pay their vet bills “because of COVID or other things that are happening in their lives,” Haggett noted.
Some of the funding comes from the Petsmart Charities of Canada, while the rest will come from the Sunshine Fund, sponsored by Queenidog, to help pet owners in financial crises with their veterinary needs.
Meanwhile, any profit the Nova Scotia SPCA makes from pet owners who are able to pay “an average veterinary fee” will be funnelled back into the financial assistance program.
“That's something that can help us to subsidize the cost of veterinary care for people who don't have the funds for it right now,” Haggett explained.
Although the new hospital has yet to open, the SPCA is currently accepting new patients.
“We're accepting everyone, regardless of your income status, it doesn't matter,” said Haggett.
Appointments can be made by contacting the SPCA Veterinary Hospital at vet@spcans.ca or 902-706-4155.
Haggett said owners with pets who are in need of urgent and emergency care will be contacted “as soon as today” to have their pets seen at the hospital.
Since announcing the news of the new animal hospital last week, Haggett said the Nova Scotia SPCA has received hundreds of emails and its phone line has been “ringing non-stop since then.”
“We understand that the need is quite high and our staff is fairly overwhelmed with the amount of people that have been reaching out, so it's been well-received, which we're happy about,” she added.