New clinic brings veterinary care closer to uptown Saint John residents
Only uptown Saint John veterinary clinic says first month of business proved demand for services in the area.
Owner of Uptown Animal Clinic Dr. Alison Messina says 90 per cent of her patients live uptown.
“It just so much more convenient for some of them to be able to come here,” she said.
Messina, originally from Philadelphia, opened her clinic alongside her husband David, at 160 Union St. in April.
She had been practising in Saint John for about three years and said having her own clinic was a longtime dream.
Messina said she decided to bring her practice uptown because she noticed there was no other clinic available in the area.
“A lot of clients they just don’t have a car, and I just couldn’t believe there wasn’t a clinic already in Uptown, so I know it was really needed,” she said.
Messina explained that before her clinic, many of her clients had to take cabs to bring their pets to a veterinarian, which particularly stressed her cat patients.
She added that taxi fares can sometimes be expensive, making it harder for clients to get to a clinic and, in some cases, even preventing them from taking their pets to a veterinarian unless the animals are seriously ill.
“A lot of those clients, because it was difficult to bring their pets they weren’t seeing their vet for vaccinations and preventative care, only seeking treatment when it was 100 per cent necessary,” Messina said.
When asked why people struggle to find more veterinarians nearby, she said while she wasn’t completely sure of the reason, but said it was likely because there are not enough vets in the city.
New Brunswick faces ongoing vet shortage
Registrar for the New Brunswick Veterinary Medical Association Mary-Ellen Themens said there is a shortage of veterinarians in New Brunswick for both companion and production animals.
She said the shortage comes down to more demand than supply, which increased during the COVID-19 pandemic as more people adopted pets.
“Those pets are now entering middle age, and with age comes more problems,” she said. “This is where more problems take more time, and there’s only X amount hours in a day that a veterinarian can see X numbers of patients.”
Part of the problem is also that there are not enough veterinary colleges, and New Brunswick only has 15 seats available for those looking to become veterinarians, Themens added.
She said there are 13 seats at the Atlantic Veterinary College and two at La Faculté de médecine vétérinaire.
She added that because the profession is so specialized, it takes eight years for veterinarians to graduate.
Themens said the association has requested additional seats at the Atlantic Veterinary College, but they will not be added for a few years.
She said New Brunswick will need at least five more seats to meet demand.
Clinic focuses on affordable, preventative care
Messina’s clinic focuses on providing preventative care for pets.
She said preventative care — like vaccinations and tick and flea prevention — helps clients avoid spending more in the long run by catching health issues early.
“If I’m able to make it more accessible to people, hopefully it does help the clients and their pets prevent unforeseen illnesses down the road,” she added.
Messina said that amid an affordability crisis and ongoing transportation challenges, she has tried to make her services more accessible — lowering exam fees and partnering with the NBSPCA’s Happy Tails program, which offers financial assistance for cat spay and neuter procedures as well as emergency veterinary care.
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Messina said she doesn’t want owners to feel like they can’t bring their pets to the vet because they can’t afford it.
“I just really want to help the community and just help these pets where they are not coming in, when it’s too late, or they are extremely sick and they need expensive hospitalization,” she said.
Messina added that while her focus is preventative care, as the clinic grows she plans to expand services, including adding a surgery room and dental care within the next six months.
