The Prince George Humane Society is requesting the City of Prince George donate land to the non-profit group for the construction of a new shelter and veterinary clinic.
Humane Society executive director Angela McLaren and Westwinds Mobile Veterinary Services manager Joanna Koehler made the request to city council on Wednesday night, to address the pressing shortage of veterinarians in the city.
“Our vision is to have the shelter and clinic at the same location,” McLaren said. “The Prince George Humane Society (is) working out of a facility we have outgrown three or four years ago.”
McLaren said if the city were to donate two or three acres of land for the facility, the society would then look to fundraise in the community to build the clinic and shelter, which could also work as a teaching facility for a potential veterinarian technician teaching program under consideration by the College of New Caledonia.
Koehler said her organization is providing mobile veterinarian services to pet owners who may not have a regular veterinarian, but retaining and recruiting veterinarians is difficult with limited facilities and numbers of veterinarian technicians.
Currently, Westwinds brings in students from The Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon, Sask. to do practicums, she added, and they would be open to becoming an accredited teaching clinic.
A three-way partnership between the Humane Society, College of New Caledonia and Westwinds could provide critical access to veterinarian care for the city, while also training new veterinarians and technicians, she said.
“I’m definitely interested in exploring this more,” Coun. Cori Ramsay said.
City council referred the issue to the city’s administration, to meet with the proponents and come back to city council with possible options.
