P.E.I. horse owners worried about lack of veterinarians
CBC
Christina Lecky is worried about something happening to her horses. The owner and operator of Bracken Hill Stable in Baltic says she doesn't have a veterinarian if her horses need one.
"If there's an accident or there's a reason to need a vet for emergency purposes, there's no one I can call," Lecky said. "So it's pretty precarious right now."
Lecky's stable houses seven horses right now, and while she started breeding in 2019, she won't have any foals this year.
"Last year I had a foal that needed to have a plasma transfusion and I had a mare that needed emergency care and both wouldn't be here if I didn't have emergency services," Lecky said. "So I'm in that position where I'm nervous about expanding my business."
Lecky has joined a group called Concerned Equine Owners of P.E.I.
It was started by Julia Smith of Briarrose Stables in Indian River when Kensington Veterinary Clinic stopped treating horses.
"There's very few horse vets on P.E.I.," said Smith.
"We can't get any medications. If our animals get injured or hurt, we can't have them humanely euthanized.... It's terrifying. Absolutely terrifying."
Smith said the group has more than 125 members and that at least 800 Island horses are affected by the lack of veterinarians.
Smith said although the Atlantic Veterinary College in Charlottetown offers emergency care for horses, people have to bring their sick or injured horses to the college to be treated, which isn't always possible.
"Maybe they broke a leg, or they're in the middle of having a foal and there's complications, or they're having a really bad colic episode and they're thrashing around," Smith said.
"Not only is it a danger to the horse, the trailer, the truck driver, the general public, because they're going to be bouncing that trailer all over the road. It's just not safe."
Alison Lecky, also at Bracken Hill Stable, said she's considering taking an equine first aid course so she can help her horse in an emergency.
"I imagine that's gonna be something that I will take in the near future. There's a few different people offering it on P.E.I., that would be where I would start," she said. "Knowledge is our best bet now."