Rugby clinic aids veterinarian shortage
Fundraiser, costume contest benefits Turtle Mountain Rescue
Submitted Photo. Left, Karen Gullickson holds Skipper while Yvette Rozmarynowski holds Mango during their appointment at Rugby Veterinary Service. Morgan Aadland and Deacon Richard Lagasse join in on the Halloween fun.
Submitted Photo. Veterinarians Deacon Richard Lagasse and Karen Gullickson are the only animal doctors at Rugby Veterinary Service.
Submitted Photo. Left, Karen Gullickson holds Skipper while Yvette Rozmarynowski holds Mango during their appointment at Rugby Veterinary Service. Morgan Aadland and Deacon Richard Lagasse join in on the Halloween fun.
Submitted Photo. Veterinarians Deacon Richard Lagasse and Karen Gullickson are the only animal doctors at Rugby Veterinary Service.
Trending
RUGBY - Rural veterinary clinics are currently facing a shortage of doctors leading to long wait-times and challenges for the patients and staff. To address the ongoing battle, Rugby Veterinary Service has implemented an after hour VetTriage program to eliminate unnecessary travel, cost and stress.
"The triage service is an answering service for on-call, after hour," Yvette Rozmarynowski, veterinary technologist and business manager of Rugby Veterinary Service, said. "We lost a veterinarian so we only have two. To preserve our veterinarians, we're trying to take as much stress off of them as possible. Being on call can be stressful. They get calls at all hours of the night for questions that are non-emergency."
The triage service is a virtual telehealth service where the veterinarians can determine whether a pet needs emergency care and provide guidance to those who do not. If deemed an emergency, the triage service will contact the Rugby on-call veterinarians to take care of the situation.
"They have to pay a $50 fee for small animals. Horses will be $75 and they actually talk to a veterinarian," Rozmarynowski said. "They can even do video calls and that veterinarian will try to assist them. If there are emergencies, that vet will call the client back and let them know the veterinarian can see you."
While the Rugby Veterinary Service searches for one to two new veterinarians, according to Rozmarynowski, they are not taking new patients for the in-person clinic. However, they can still take advantage of the triage service in case of an emergency.
Rugby Veterinary Service fundraiser
Rugby Veterinary Services has created an animal rescue fundraiser to raise money and collect donations for the Turtle Mountain Animal Rescue. The vet service is additionally holding a pet costume contest.
Rozmarynowski said the fundraiser is a way to give back to the animal rescue who has helped the clinic in different circumstances such as when an animal comes into the clinic and needs a home.
"We want to raise money for the Turtle Mountain Animal Rescue," Rozmarynowski said. "They've helped us out, like if we get a pound animal that comes in, they'll sometimes take some of them and try and help find them homes. We want to help them out with monetary and supplies."
According to Rozmarynowski, the clinic is collecting bleach, comforters, dish soap, flat bed sheets, kitchen scrubby pads, latex gloves of all sizes, laundry soap and paper towels.
Pictures can be submitted for the costume contest until Sept. 30. Participants will be displayed on a box in the reception area and from Oct.1-31, the voting will commence. Voting is done in person by donating money into the box.
"People can take pictures of their pets in Halloween costumes and either email them to us or drop a picture off," Rozmarynowski said. "Those pictures will go on donation boxes and then people can vote by putting money into the boxes. The pet that has the most money in their box will be the winner."
Nov. 1-7 is National Animal Shelter and Rescue Appreciation week, therefore, the money and donations will be given to the Turtle Mountain Animal Rescue during that time.