Veterinarians ask for more time

A last-minute proposal from local veterinarians was enough Tuesday to convince the city’s finance committee to delay until July a decision on reforming the city’s spay and neuter programs.

Chad Wilkinson, president, Sudbury and District Veterinary Association, said the quality of care pets receive in Sudbury would be affected if the city were to approve a plan for a low-cost spay and neuter clinic.

Speaking after the meeting, Wilkinson said the association wants to be part of the solution in finding ways to ensure everyone who wants to get their pet fixed can afford it.

“We’re willing to work with the SPCA and the city to find an option that’s in the best interest of all of our pets – and the taxpayers of Sudbury,” Wilkinson said.

Under the association’s plan, anyone who can pass a means test would be eligible to have their pet receive a subsidized spay and neuter. People who show forms proving they receive social assistance – such as Ontario Works, subsidized housing, Ontario Disability certificate, etc. – would receive a coupon entitling them to the discounted procedure.

“The program has been implemented by several municipalities in Ontario,” Wilkinson said. “If they show the need, veterinarians of Greater Sudbury will be more than happy to provide low-cost spay or neuter.”

The current system offers a limited number of coupons for cheaper spay and neuters, but they are given out on a first come, first served basis, regardless of need. A staff report says the city could get a spay-and-neuter clinic for the cost of providing a surplus building and a discounted rent.

The clinic would be run by the Ontario SPCA and operate at double the capacity of a similar clinic in Barrie, able to do 50 procedures a day. It would employ four part-time veterinarians, four veterinary technicians, two administrative staff and a booking agent.

Building renovation and operating costs would be funded by the OSPCA, provided the city is willing to provide a building and a break on monthly rent, the report says.

The OSPCA also proposes an outreach program as part of the clinic, “whereby they would facilitate transportation of animals from First Nations Reserves and remote locations in the north to the clinic and back,” the report says. “This service is to address a need to those who cannot facilitate transportation for their animals.”

Calls for a low-cost spay-and-neuter clinic have been growing in recent years, with large number of unwanted animals being put down because there are no homes for them. The cat population is particularly overpopulated, and the city’s current voucher program offers larger discounts for cat procedures in an attempt to curtail the population.

However, there are a limited number of vouchers, which are weighted 35% for dogs and 65% for cats, and are valued at $65 for a neuter and $115 for a spay procedure regardless of whether it’s a cat or dog.

The clinics are based on the same Humane Alliance Model used in Barrie, offering procedures in the range of $60-$160, compared to $135-$450 under the city’s coupon program.

“With a one-time contribution of real property identified as surplus and reduced rental agreement thereafter, the annual budget may be reduced by the yearly costs of the current Spay-Neuter Coupon Program; approximately $55,000,” the report says. “There may be some financial gains in the increase in dog and cat registrations and a reduction in the animal control costs associated with pet overpopulation over the long range.”

But Wilkinson said the proposal is not only unfair competition for local vets, it’s also unfair to local taxpayers.

“There’s a significant expense to the city to provide a large building needed for the proposed structure,” he said. “Tax revenues would be waived by the city, as well.

“And I don’t think the city wants to provide low-cost spay and neuters to people with high incomes at taxpayers’ expense, (especially when) veterinarians of Greater Sudbury are interested in providing that subsidized care to Sudburians who need it.”

To made the clinic work, Wilkinson said it would have to maintain a very high number of procedures a day, something he’s convinced would compromise the quality of care.

“We’re concerned about the quality of care our citizens’ pets would receive,” he said.

The clinic would also threaten the 10 veterinarian practices in Greater Sudbury, and the 10 or so located in the surrounding communities the low-cost clinic would have to draw from to break even.

“We could never compete with that cost,” he said. “There will be layoffs, there will be negative impacts on some practices that the city will have to deal with in the big picture.

“We all love animals. That’s why we’re here. And we want to make sure we do what’s best for the animals, by controlling the quality of care that our patients receive.”

The driving force behind changing the city’s spay and neuter efforts is to reduce the growing number of unwanted pets in Sudbury, cats in particular.  The number of dogs and cats being euthanized in Greater Sudbury has surged since 2005, when 291 cats and 75 dogs were killed. That compares to 465 and 100 respectively in 2012. Wilkinson said there’s no reason to think the clinic would solve that problem.

“We know that low-cost spay and neuter clinics have not had a major impact on the pet overpopulation in the communities that they’re in,” he said.