Mobile animal wellness clinic brings vet services for families without access to a veterinarian

A new mobile animal wellness clinic has been moving around the City of Greater Sudbury this summer, providing veterinary services to families without the means to take their animal to a local veterinarian.

The Ontario SPCA and Humane Society has partnered with Greater Sudbury Animal Services, and earlier this summer they launched their Mobile Animal Wellness Clinic in the city.

The mobile vet clinic travels to a different location in the City of Greater Sudbury each month for its Animal Wellness Days. Through pre-booked appointments, the clinic provides general wellness examinations and vaccinations for cats and dogs and, when necessary and requested by a family, end-of-life care.

The appointments are reserved for those who receive government subsidies or have an Indigenous status card, and do not have a relationship with a local veterinarian.

"We're trying to move [the unit] around the city and cover all our geographical locations where our services might be needed," said Hope Lumbis, Manager of the SPCA's Mobile Animal Wellness Services.

"So, the Flour Mill, New Sudbury, and we're working on a south end location to try and make it accessible to anybody."

Lumbis said the wellness days take place over two to three days, and at a recent event in August they were able to help 25 to 30 pets a day between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.

She added that the number of pets has increased since the pandemic but the number of veterinarians has not changed or diminished in some areas, leading some families not being able to access veterinary care.

"It definitely is a big problem not only here, but around the country to be able to access vets in a timely manner to make sure [pets] have those boosters in a designated amount of time to be able to be protected against the diseases around town," explained Lumbis.

While some families can't access veterinary care due to high demand or the inability to travel, others can't afford the service due to various circumstances.

Lumbis said the mobile wellness clinic gives those families who qualify for it a chance to give their pets the care they need in a more accessible manner.

"We had quite a few at our last event, people that I don't think would have been able to provide veterinary care for their pets without having the unit there, whether it was people coming with their cats in a carrier in shopping carts or on scooters that didn't have the means to be able to go to a local veterinarian, and had to make the choice between feeding themselves or their pets," said Lumbis.

She said the wellness days have made a difference in the community and they are hoping they can keep holding the events over the next few months.

"We kind of knew that this was needed around the city but you never know how it's going to be received or how it's going to go and I think people have taken it really positively, and I think it's helped a lot of us kind of change our perspective on things too, especially the last event as far as how we work with people in the city and what we can bring to them," Lumbis explained.