Couple says Windsor-Essex needs more emergency vet resources after dog's death
CBC
Amherstburg couple Donna and Geoff Hibbert want to see more after-hours emergency service veterinary clinics in the region after they waited eight hours at the only one in Windsor-Essex while their dog vomited blood.
Though the region has a number of animal clinics, the Walker Road Animal Hospital is the only service in this part of southwestern Ontario that operates a "24-hour emergency veterinary hospital." This means that for animals who are sick after-hours or on the weekend, Walker Road is their only option.
As a result, pet owners travel far for help and often end up waiting hours for their pet to receive care.
When the Hibberts noticed that their 11-year-old dog Kloe was sick and needed emergency attention on the evening of Jan. 13, they brought her in to Walker Road.
The couple said they were first told it would be a two-hour wait. Kloe was soon triaged in the hospital's lobby and the Hibberts said they were told she didn't have a high temperature and wasn't dehydrated.
With every passing hour, the couple said receptionists told them they would be next.
But their two-hour wait turned into eight before Kloe was admitted.
"Everybody talks about how ... waiting rooms [for people] at the hospital are bad. We had no idea it was just as bad or worse for animals when they have to go to emergency hospitals," Geoff said.
"So there's definitely a need for an additional one in Essex County, but at this time that's the only game in town, so there's not a lot you can do, other than crossing the border."
Kloe got a room at 1:40 a.m. on Saturday and was found to be "terribly dehydrated," according to the Hibberts.
By that point, the couple said their dog had thrown up about seven times and started to vomit blood.
"We've had animals all of our life, and multiple animals, and I have never ever had an experience like that," said Donna.
Kloe was kept at the hospital for treatment after she was diagnosed with a severe form of diabetes and a urinary tract infection. On Monday evening, the Hibberts said they were told that Kloe was doing better, but received a call on Tuesday morning that she had died.
Operations director Jennifer Beaudoin with VetStrategy — the company that oversees the Walker Road Animal Hospital — said it cannot comment on certain cases but that it "continues to value and strive to ensure our core principles are met in all our hospitals, caring for patients, clients, and people."
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