Province surveys producers on vet services

A survey on the services of the province’s Animal Health Centre wraps up this week as the province conducts a review of its services to the sector.

The lab at the Animal Health Centre in Abbotsford offers both post-mortem services as well as more than 400 diagnostic tests for both animals and plants.

The lab conducted more than 10,000 tests last year, including analyzing 9,000 avian influenza samples between October and December 2023.

Designed “to help identify areas for improvement,” the survey takes about 10 to 15 minutes to complete and is available here.

The results will help improve operations at the current centre as well as guide development of a new facility offering enhanced lab services to B.C.’s agricultural and veterinary sectors.

However, when animals get sick, veterinary services remain difficult to access in certain parts of the province.

The shortage is particularly acute in Northern BC, according to a producer survey the province conducted last fall that wrapped up October 6. A total of 451 responses were received.

Provincial chief veterinarian Dr. Theresa Burns shared preliminary findings during a webinar the Centre for Organizational Governance in Agriculture hosted on March 4.

While small-scale producers have the most difficulty province-wide, with significant challenges accessing services in the Okanagan and on Vancouver Island, producers of all sizes face challenges in northern BC.

“You can see that, particularly in the north part of the province, everyone is having trouble accessing veterinary services,” Burns said.

The challenges were also identified in survey of veterinarians, which identified the shortage of services as most acute in northern BC, the Okanagan and Vancouver Island.

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