The local animal rescue community may lose a valuable member if NAWS Humane Society in Mokena can’t find a doctor to replace the staff veterinarian who is leaving.
The current veterinarian, who has been with the no-kill nonprofit for the past decade, is leaving for a new position July 15, board President Jeannine Huck said.
Without a replacement, NAWS, www.nawsus.org, will not be able to maintain its clinic. Without the clinic, the shelter will lose the income needed to pay operating expenses, Huck said.
So why not just hire another veterinarian?
More Top Picks Best Cooling Gel Eye Masks For Puffy Eyes
Easier said than done these days.
“There’s a shortage of vets today,” Huck said. “The market is not good. We’ve been feeling it for a while now, since the pandemic. It’s harder for pet owners to even make an appointment.”
Michael San Filippo, spokesman for the American Veterinary Medical Association, said, “It’s a complicated issue, and one that can vary county to county across the United States. We’ve seen a wide range of experiences in veterinary clinics — some are doing fine, some are struggling to meet demand.
“And — front and center virtually everywhere — there is a very clear shortage of veterinary technicians,” he said.
The industry, San Filippo said, definitely felt the effects of the pandemic closures, particularly when things reopened and pent-up demand needed to be addressed. Another side effect of the pandemic, he said, is pet owners paid increased attention to the care of their animals.
“Last year we began to see some normalization of demand for veterinary services as — based on nationwide numbers — clinic visits appear to be gradually returning to pre-pandemic levels,” he said.
Emily Klehm, CEO of South Suburban Humane Society in Homewood and Matteson, www.southsuburbanhumane.org, confirms the problem.
“It took our low-cost clinic 18 months to find two full-time veterinarians and that was with the help of a headhunter and (me) cold contacting vets everywhere,” Klehm said. Industry reports show there are three openings for every one candidate, she said.
According to Mars Veterinary Health, www.marsveterinary.com/tackling-the-veterinary-professional-shortage, pet ownership is on the rise. A 33% increase in pet health care service spending is expected over the next 10 years. But, even with expected new graduates, “a shortage of nearly 15,000 veterinarians will likely still exist by 2030,” the organization said.
NAWS opened as a home-based rescue in 2007. It has been able to take in strays and relinquished cats and dogs and prepare them for adoption because of funds provided by its onsite clinic. Without a veterinarian to run that clinic, the rescue will lose a substantial portion of its operating income, Huck said.
“We are dependent on this income to support the 650 cats and 60 to 70 dogs in our care,” Huck said.
NAWS will continue to provide spay and neuter services, thanks to a local surgeon, but without a staff veterinarian, it will not be able to offer basic medical care, she said. If the clinic closes, the deficit would be about $35,000 a month, she said.
In addition, she said, the staff vet attends to the needs of the animals that are brought to and housed at the facility.
Many of the rescues, Huck said, need more than basic medical care. Some come it with eye conditions, skin afflictions and other health concerns.
“We tend to whatever they need to get them ready for a forever home,” she said. “Often, adoption fees only cover 30 to 40 percent of actual medical cost.”
If NAWS closes, Huck said, not only will the south suburban community lose a rescue shelter, the entire nationwide transport network will lose a respite or backup.
Kill shelters, especially those in rural areas, “look to us and other rescues in more populated areas to relieve their growing population of animals in need,” Huck said. “It’s a beautiful, wonderful transport network that connects rural areas to urban areas to help rescue as many animals as possible.”
One bright spot, she said, is NAWS has a “wonderful private donor base.”
“Our community is phenomenal. It helped us through the dog flu and COVID crises,” she said. “But, we don’t know how long we can go on without revenue to pay for our operating expenses. We don’t have a lot of grant funding. We will definitely be pursuing that but it takes time.”
More Top Picks Hedge Trimmer
Donna Vickroy is an award-winning reporter, editor and columnist who worked for the Daily Southtown for 38 years.