Our beloved animals deserve after-hours care

Santa Fe has had no all-night emergency veterinary service since COVID-19 shut the world down. In the past couple of years, I’ve had to take my senior dog to the Animal Emergency Hospital off Rodeo Road. Suddenly we face the specter of having to drive to Albuquerque in the middle of the night in icy, snowy conditions, with a seriously injured, ill or dying pet in tow. This has contributed to no small amount of sleepless hours.

Our dogs and cats — all our pets — continue to be in danger. (And what about the farmers and ranchers north of us, who might have a cow or sow or mare in a difficult labor or attacked by a wild animal?) It is within the power of the veterinary community to remedy the situation. How about the veterinarians in our animal-loving community coming together to address this need? Can they organize some kind of rotation of all-night emergency service among their different practices and hospitals? Something must be done.

Howard Davis Santa Fe