Approximately 100 animals will be examined during the four-day clinic. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

healthy pets

Veterinarian team from U of S returns to La Ronge for four-day animal clinic

Jun 11, 2021 | 5:00 PM

The vets are back in town after a one-and-a-half-year hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Over the span of four days starting Thursday, students and staff with the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon will perform 60 animal checks and 40 surgeries on tri-community pets. The veterinarian team has been becoming to the area twice per year since 2014 and operate out of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band’s Jonas Roberts Memorial Community Centre’s hockey rink.

“It’s a been a little bit interesting because we have been doing things with far fewer people than we normally do,” said Dr. Jordan Woodsworth, who is the veterinarian in charge of the clinic. “It’s going smoothly so far I’d say.”

The vet clinic hasn’t been held since 2019 and, due to coronavirus restrictions, only 20 out of a normal volunteer force of 100 people could participate. That means vets are only able to see about half of the 190 animals that are normally booked in non-pandemic years.

“Our capacity has been lower, which is unfortunate because there’s been lots of demand,” Woodsworth said. “We’re seeing fewer critters than we normally would and also this time we are not allowing clients into the building, just to improve social distancing and to make sure we don’t have a whole bunch of traffic through the rink.”

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Woodsworth explained it’s important the college continues to come to the tri-communities to host clinics because it’s a learning and clinical experience for students. She said it’s a chance to understand what their responsibilities will be as veterinarians and how it is crucial veterinarians improve access to animals that don’t regularly receive such care.

Woodsworth mentioned it is part of her role at the University of Saskatchewan to build and maintain such relationships like the ones with she has with the tri-communities.

“The other piece, for me, is I’m working with a team of folks here in La Ronge on a research project and a lot of that kind of overlaps with this clinical work,” she said. “For the foreseeable future, I plan to keep bringing people back here in order to provide this service.”

There are no veterinarian services available to residents in Northern Saskatchewan, including in the La Ronge area. In 2019 and 2020, Northern Animal Rescue based in La Ronge took in approximately 1,000 stray animals, mostly dogs.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @saskjourno