Animals at the city's humane society, like Skye here, are able to be treated for pain before making their way to local vet hospitals.
(Devan Ridgway - WFIU/WTIU)
At the Bloomington Animal Shelter, staff members such as director Virgil Sauder have seen their fair share of tough sights from the animals they’ve rescued.
“I can't think of the exact dog's name, but we had a dog that appeared to be hit by a car,” he said.
With emergency vet care lacking in Bloomington, getting timely critical care for animal like that one is a challenge.
“Instead of being able to get to a vet to get X-rays right away, what we did is we had to bring it back to the shelter, we started on pain management,” he said. “And then the next day, as soon as we could, we had staff come in and just start calling around to see which beds we could get in.”
Virgil Sauder, Director of the Bloomington Animal Shelter. (Devan Ridgway / WTIU
Because his staff is trained to keep animals in stable condition in the event of injury, the dog came out of the accident just fine.
“(He) ended up being okay,” he said. “And you know, we got it recovered from that, no broken bones or anything, but it would have been nice having a bit extra triage the day of the injury.”
The Bloomington area has many vet clinics that provide wellness checkups, surgeries and medications for pets. If your pet can manage to wait a day or so to get into an appointment, you’re covered. All the clinics in town are closed on Sunday though, with some being closed and others having limited hours on Saturday.
If your cat decides to snack on your potted lilies on a Saturday afternoon, you’re out of luck to get treatment in town until Monday morning.
That is, unless you decide to rush to one of the nearest 24/7 vet clinics in either Beech Grove or Fishers - a drive that can take nearly an hour and a half depending on traffic. When time is of the essence, it’s the last thing any pet owner wants to do.
Sauder said that it’s a complicated issue with a couple reasons 24/7 care is lacking.
“Part of it is the availability of staffing, of course,” he said. “The other piece is in order to make it go financially, most places need a specific kind of census level in the community. And we're kind of right on that edge.”
VetCheck Urgent Care Center's location in Fishers. Bloomington will have one sometime this Spring. (Courtesy VetCheck)
According to Indiana State Veterinarian Dr. Brett Marsh, Bloomington is feeling the effects of a nationwide issue.
“We've experienced a shortage in areas across our state, we've had calls from local politicians and local veterinarians that are having difficulty getting veterinary coverage in their area of the state, it’s not unique to Indiana,” he said. “It's across the United States.”
Dr. Marsh said that since the start of COVID, the number of people seeking and getting pets increased, leading to more people seeking health care for those pets.
“There's been increased demand for veterinary services,” he said. “And so, the hours to be available and the demands to be available have certainly increased over the last couple of years.”
The issue goes even further, where ranchers are even having difficulty sourcing vet care for livestock such as cows, pigs, horses and chickens.
Dr. Marsh said building a relationship with a veterinarian’s office is one thing he can recommend to help your animals get the care they need through this shortage of staff.
“(V)eterinarians are very busy,” he said. “And so, if you don't have a relationship, and you cold call the clinic, they have a list of clients that have established that relationship, and they're going to be looking to them.”
Shelter director Sauder agreed.
“From an individual that works with animals and an individual that has animals, that care is not easy,” he said. “It's a very stressful profession. So, the more people have compassion, and good relationships with their vets, the more people are going to be interested in pursuing and taking that route.”
For Bloomingtonions, VetCheck Urgent Care Center is opening sometime this spring. It’s aim is to fill some of the gap in 24/7 emergency vet care.
