Dear Editor:
I write to advise pet owners to ask their vet if they offer a euthanasia program outside their office hours of Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. I unfortunately did not think of asking this question.
When I needed an emergency call to a vet for euthanasia, I was told, “we offer 24-hour emergency service.” This service entails a journey of 50 kilometres to Kelowna Fairfield Animal Hospital.
This is totally unacceptable when your pet is hemorrhaging and is in dreadful pain in a pool of blood.
It is cruel to expect a pet owner to put their dying pet into the back of a car and travel 50 kilometres to Kelowna.
It hurt so much to witness my dearly loved eight-year-old schnauzer in absolute pain, fighting for his life.
I am so angry that I cannot understand an establishment like a vet closing their doors at 5 p.m. every night.
Added to that fact, they are completely closed from 5 p.m. on Friday to Monday at 9 a.m.
There is no euthanasia program in Summerland outside these office hours.
I implore all pet owners to ask their vets if they offer an out-of-hours euthanasia service, thereby avoiding a journey to Kelowna with a dying animal.
If I can save just one pet from the excruciating pain of dying without help, my letter will have served its purpose.
Lesley Price
Summerland