COLUMBIA, S.C. — Several Columbia animal services organizations are being forced to change the way they operate due to the national veterinarian shortage.
"Without a vet here daily, without them performing spay or neutering surgeries, we're just sitting on more animals than we normally should," explained Victoria Riles, City of Columbia Animal Services' Superintendent.
"We had two mobile surgical unit vans," said Dawn Wilkinson, Humane Society Columbia's executive director. "We had to take one of them down because we lost a vet and could not replace them."
The City of Columbia Animal Services' superintendent says they have been without a full-time vet for two years.
"We have been actively seeking a full-time vet since we lost our previous one," expressed Riles. "It has been a little bit of a struggle. I don't think any of us thought it would take this long."
The executive director for the Human Society Columbia says the fear is animal shelters will be overcrowded because medical costs could increase to meet the demand.
"With this veterinarian shortage, fewer cats and dogs are being vaccinated for rabies," said Wilkinson. "That could spill over to human health. If they can't afford surgery, euthanization, or regular medical care, they might have no option to turn the animal over to the shelter. So that puts one more animal in our shelter system, and of course, the shelter has the burden of providing the vet care."