Kangiqliniq Spay, Neuter and Rescue will be sponsoring the next vet clinic in Rankin Inlet from Nov. 10 to 16.
The clinic will be delivered by an animal health team from the Grant Park Animal Hospital in Winnipeg.
Rankin Inlet Fire Chief Mark Wyatt said the vet clinics are usually held in the new arena, but because this one is being held a little later in the year, it will be held at the community hall.
Wyatt said he's organized the past five vet clinics in Rankin and on average, each clinic attracts between 70 to 100 local pets.
“Those are pretty good numbers,” said Wyatt. “Other communities are starting to catch on. Out last trip, we also helped Baker Lake do a vet clinic with them sort of piggybacking on us. This time around, I'm also talking to somebody in Arviat about doing one there.
“It might not be this trip, but when we do another one in the spring they may be able to piggyback upon us, as well.
“It basically saves costs because we share flight costs. We've tried with Arviat a few times in the past, but they haven't been able to really pull-it together. This time, however, the person I'm talking to seems pretty enthusiastic, so we will see.”
Wyatt said spays and neuters are the top draws at the clinic, although lately they've been getting more requests for grooming.
He said there's also a lot of check-ups each visit and one or two end-of-life calls, as well.
“The end-of-life calls are hard on everyone involved, especially the pet owner.
“Dogs get old and if people can actually have the luxury of having a vet put their dog down, it's probably a little bit better than getting me to do it, but it's kind of six of one, half a dozen of the other.
“When I put a dog down, I'll put a bowl of good food out in front of them and they're sitting there eating away and happy and they don't even know until it's all over and done.
“I don't know which is more humane actually, but it is what it is. It's not my favourite part of the job at all.”
