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SYDNEY, N.S. —

Veterinarians in Nova Scotia are asking the province to ensure their clinics can stay open during the COVID-19 outbreak.

When Nova Scotia declared a state of emergency in an effort to reduce the spread of the virus, veterinary medicine wasn’t listed as an essential service.

Dr. Frank Richardson, registrar of the Nova Scotia Veterinary Medical Association, said they are asking the province to grant them that designation so vets can still work even if other businesses are ordered to close.

“It’s not considered under health care in the province of Nova Scotia, so we’re working to change that and hopefully that will happen,” he said. “But at the present time we’re not and that’s a tragedy. If all non-essential services were ordered to close, that would be terrible for the province, so we’re hoping that will change.”

Cape Breton veterinarian Dr. Rebecca Korven said animals could needlessly suffer and even the health of their human owners could be affected if clinics are forced to close their doors.

Dr. Rebecca Korven

“I’m really hoping that’s going to be re-evaluated and changed. I really feel it is extremely essential for a number of reasons. First, and most importantly, is just to prevent suffering. We’ve seen just in the last week alone so many animals that, had we not been able to be there to help them, would have suffered terribly and been in pain. Just being available and able to take them in and help treat them, or end their suffering peacefully, is just a very, very important thing that our society shouldn’t lose because of this pandemic,” said Korven, who owns Celtic Creatures Veterinary Clinic in Coxheath with her husband Aaron Andrews.

“I also feel it’s for human health, too. There are a lot of conditions that we treat that can spread to people. Even something as simple as fleas — if we aren’t able to control a flea infestation in a pet it certainly affects the health of people living in the house. There are other conditions too like bacterial infections that affect people’s health and wellness that we can help.”

Even before Premier Stephen McNeil announced the state of emergency on Sunday, the Nova Scotia Veterinary Medical Association had directed the approximately 100 animal hospitals and clinics it represents — including 13 in Cape Breton — to take measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Korven said veterinarians are trained in epidemiology and herd health, so they have been quick to implement protocols to reduce the spread of infection.

Her clinic is only providing urgent and time-sensitive care to animals and people are no longer allowed in the building unless their pet is being euthanized. Owners with an appointment must call from the parking lot and wait for a staff member to meet them and collect the animal and bring it into the clinic. Her employees are also wearing masks, gloves and lab coats in case the virus is present on the coats of the animals they treat.

“Not that animals are likely to infect, but there is a small chance that the virus, if somebody with COVID-19 coughed on their animal, or they have the virus on their hands and petted their animal, then the animal can give it to us, just like touching a pen or another object, so that’s why we protect ourselves with the gloves and lab coat and mask,” she said.

“We’re kind of down to a skeleton team right now and we want to make sure that we can stay open and be there, so we really want to make sure that we don’t have anybody getting COVID-19 because if that happens we’d have to close.”

Korven said her clinic had been “extremely busy” recently as people stocked up on food and medication for their pets. She said many people are concerned about what could happen to their pets if veterinarians can no longer work.

“They are part of everybody’s family. It’s a hard, stressful time right now, so people who have animals rely on them even more for love and stress relief therapy. I think a lot of my clients are concerned that just the thought if something happened to their pets and they wouldn’t be able to take them to a vet for care is quite distressing, so it would be really nice for their peace of mind to know that we’re going to be able to be there for them if they need help.”

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