Vet clinic 'willing to consider' some care for impounded animals
Feb. 19—GRAND FORKS — A local veterinary clinic is "willing to consider" taking on some veterinary care services for animals held at the city pound, the city's top official said.
Representatives from the city of Grand Forks, city police, Kindness Animal Hospital and Grand Forks animal impound services contractor Circle of Friends met Thursday for a discussion "centered on veterinary care," City Administrator Todd Feland told the Herald.
Feland said the conversation provided insight into the supply and demand for animal medical care in Grand Forks.
"It sounds like it's very tough in the veterinary industry right now," Feland said. "It's very hard to attract and retain a veterinarian to your practice right now."
No firm commitments have been made, but Feland said city staff are working on drawing up a draft agreement for Kindness to provide veterinary care services for animals impounded at Circle of Friends during its regular business hours.
He said the city had reached out to several other area veterinary clinics, but Kindness was the only clinic with a representative present at the meeting.
Chelsea Moen, the animal hospital's representative at the meeting, said she couldn't comment on any details of the agreement since they hadn't been decided yet. But she did say Kindness has the capacity to take on veterinary care for animals impounded at Circle of Friends.
"We're super thankful that we have the doctors and the staff to take this on," she said. "It seems like we're the only clinic with the staff to do this at this time."
The city is also interested in seeking some after-hours care from Kindness and a trio of local veterinary clinics that are already operating under a shared services agreement. Feland said the city is planning to reach out to the other clinics.
Two retired veterinarians formerly associated with Petcetera Animal Clinic also were present at Thursday's meeting, and have volunteered to provide their services to Circle of Friends when available.
One of those veterinarians, Dr. Rod Gigstad, said he expected he and his counterpart would handle after-hours care where the veterinary clinics were unavailable.
"We're semi-retired or mostly retired, so it's not a big deal for us to help the Humane Society out," he said, using Circle of Friends' legal name, the Humane Society of Grand Forks.
Previously, Circle of Friends employed a full-time, on-call 24/7 veterinarian at a salary of $144,300, but her position was terminated late last month amid a slew of budget cuts made by the nonprofit.
Feland said discussion with Circle of Friends representatives and city police led him to believe that most of the animal nonprofit's veterinary needs occurred during daytime hours, with after-hours medical emergencies constituting a relatively small number of cases each year.
"We're talking in the amount of less than 20 on an annual basis," Feland said. "I think it's something that we can work through. That isn't insurmountable."
