Within hours of last week's announcement that one of the area's largest emergency veterinary hospitals is closing, the owner of three local boarding facilities emailed a letter to her clients.
Melissa Cocola’s letter said anyone wishing to board their dog at Creekside Resort in Walworth, or at Creekside Acres or Creekside Lodge in Macedon, must provide the name of a local contact who would be willing to transport the animal to a hospital for emergency care if needed.
"Clients are really upset because it is a service we've been able to provide up until now," Cocola said. "But God forbid, something happens at 9 o'clock at night, and we have nowhere to go."
Veterinary Specialists and Emergency Services in Brighton, or VSES, eliminated its overnight hours early last year. Now, citing a shortage of emergency veterinarians, its parent company, Thrive Pet Healthcare, plans to close the practice on or before Nov. 27.
It's the latest local example of an ongoing national crisis in veterinary medicine that is years in the making.
Like many local pet owners, Cocola said she has had difficulty finding care for her clients' pets for the last couple of years — and it's only gotten harder.
"Unless somebody comes in and opens another emergency clinic, there are no options," she said.
That's exactly what some local veterinarians are hoping to do.
Dr. Dori Marion, founder of the mobile veterinary service, Doorbell Vet, along with the owners of 15 other privately owned veterinary clinics, drafted a business plan for a community supported veterinary ER.
Among the biggest challenges are finding someone to lead the effort and getting enough veterinarians to cover overnight shifts.
"It's very difficult work; it’s very demanding, physically and emotionally," explained Samantha Knorrmeier, practice manager at Doorbell Vet. "So it would be nice if there was some way we could each take turns signing up for shifts. Maybe do one emergency care overnight (shift) a month wouldn't be as strenuous on somebody as constant overnight care."
Marion said a physical location for the hospital is also needed, since zoning restrictions prevent many existing clinics from operating overnight. One option would be to sublease the space currently occupied by VSES on White Spruce Boulevard.
The draft plan for the new hospital proposes an $8 monthly membership fee per pet to offset the cost of services and the veterinarian's pay and benefits. Marion said members would get access to services seven days after enrolling, or they could get an appointment earlier if they paid for a two-year membership upfront.
Unless or until such a plan comes to fruition, though, Rochester-area pet owners have limited options if they can't find care when they need it, especially at night.
It usually means a one-hour — or longer — drive to a hospital in Buffalo, Syracuse or Ithaca. That’s if they aren't already booked. And Cocola said if an animal is critically ill or injured, it could become a race against the clock.
"That’s what scares me the most," she said. "For anybody, whether it's us or my clients or their emergency contact, to have to drive almost two hours with a dog in distress ... it's very scary."
One of Cocola's clients opted to take her dog, who suffers from seizures, on vacation with her because she had no one to use as an emergency contact while she was away.
Until a more permanent solution can be found to address the shortage in care, about 10 Rochester-area veterinary practices have formed a triage network to try to help frustrated pet owners get appointments at the clinics that have openings.
Knorrmeier said they use the Slack app to stay in touch with each other: "Every morning we can say, 'I have a pet that ingested grapes. Who has an opening today?'"
In the meantime, veterinarians and their staffs encourage people to keep their pets up to date on their annual exams and vaccinations.
"If you're noticing something even slightly off about your pet, be proactive rather than reactive about it without trying to make those middle-of-the-night drives to Buffalo or Syracuse," Knorrmeier cautioned.
While plans to restore 24-hour emergency veterinary service to Rochester appear to be in the early stages, Knorrmeier is optimistic that progress will come if the community works together. She especially has faith in her boss to see it through.
"Kind of like a dog with a bone," she said, "when Dr. Dori sees that the community needs something, she runs with it."
