Construction of new veterinarian training facility to start this summer
Recruitment is underway for the first cohort of students for Lakehead University’s new veterinarian training program in collaboration with the University of Guelph.
The inaugural cohort of twenty students from northern Ontario will complete their studies in Guelph, starting next year — but by 2027, students will be taking the first two years of the four-year program in Thunder Bay.
Lakehead announced Tuesday it will soon initiate a request for proposals to construct a new training facility on its campus in the city, and that it expects sod to be turned this summer.
The program is aimed at addressing a dire shortage of veterinarians in Thunder Bay and elsewhere in northern Ontario.
“If you could materialize five full-time vets right now in Thunder Bay, they would be fully booked tomorrow,” said Dr. Domenic Sanzo, a veterinarian and partner at the Thunder Bay Veterinary Hospital. “Some people might say you’d want all those vets at your clinic so that you get the business. But I don’t even care about that right now – I just need help.”
In Thunder Bay, the shortage of veterinarians has made it difficult for people to access medical care for their pets, but the new program will also support the need for vet services in the growing agri-food sector.
“People who live in northern Ontario deserve equal access to services found in the rest of the province, and that includes medical care for our pets and farm animals,” said Gillian Siddall, president and chancellor at Lakehead. “As an avid animal lover and champion for local economic growth, I am proud to enter this first-of-its kind partnership with the University of Guelph to educate northern students who plan to build their practice in underserved communities.
“Help is on the way.”
Although there’s no requirement for graduates to start their practice in the north, Siddall noted students must be residents of northern Ontario to gain admission to the program, and that “they’re already going to feel at home here.”
She added “We’re quite confident that we’ll have a lot more new vets in northern Ontario as a result of this.”
Once the facility is built, visitors can expect to see cows, horses, sheep, dogs and other live animals on the LU campus.
Students will participate in experiential learning opportunities and work with local vets in addition to completing core courses geared toward northern practice, and graduates will be awarded a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Guelph.
Lakehead said the program will also incorporate Indigenous perspectives and approaches to animal care that honour Indigenous culture and the connection to the land.
The province is supporting the program with an investment of almost $15 million, including $4.5 million for the construction costs at Lakehead, in addition to offering grants for graduated veterinarians through its veterinary incentive program.
The City of Thunder Bay’s Community Economic Development Commission is also contributing $500,000, and Lakehead said it is doing additional fundraising for the project.
Applicants from the Thunder Bay, Rainy River and Kenora districts are eligible for the program, as are prospective students from the districts of Algoma, Cochrane, Sudbury, Manitoulin, Timiskaming, Nipissing and Parry Sound.
The first cohort was initially expected to begin studies last year, but in 2023 officials announced a one-year delay. -tbnewstch.com
article website here
…Lakehead said the program will also incorporate Indigenous perspectives and approaches to animal care that honour Indigenous culture and the connection to the land….
OK…..soooo what are ‘Indigenous perspectives and approaches to animal care’ ? Well……
Feral dogs a threat to community safety: KI chief
Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug’s chief and council notified residents that “there will be a dog shoot.”
Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug’s loose dog population is being culled for reasons of public safety, Chief Donny Morris says.
“We have this school that’s near a populated area and for some reason, whether these dogs are wild or not contained, we felt it was too risky to have them wandering around in packs when kids walk to school,” Morris told Newswatch Tuesday in a phone interview.
Word of dogs being shot on the fly-in reserve made the rounds on social media last week after KI’s chief and council notified residents that “there will be a dog shoot” and advised residents to “tie up your dog/s if you want to keep them.”
Comments at a dog-rescue organization’s Facebook page termed the culling plan “barbaric” and “heartbreaking.”
Morris said he and KI council want to avoid the sort of incidents that have occurred in some other remote communities, where feral dogs have attacked children and adults.
There have been some close calls recently in his community, he said, “where a couple of dogs would run up to an individual, kind of snarling.
“We just want to try and get rid of some of these dogs that are a problem for our community.”
KI council received complaints and concerns about loose canines from the community, Morris said.
“We had a council meeting and we decided fully supporting the idea that we should … terminate some of these wild dogs.”
Council authorized hiring someone to shoot dogs, he said, but “if you come across them walking on the lake or crossing the lake you have that opportunity (to shoot) if you want to do your part.”
Concerned outsiders are “more than welcome to come in” and help KI deal with its dog situation, he said, “but you’ve got to understand the distance from Thunder Bay to Big Trout Lake is over 700 kilometres.” – NWOndewswatch.com
article website here
…Council authorized hiring someone to shoot dogs, he said, but “if you come across them walking on the lake or crossing the lake you have that opportunity (to shoot) if you want to do your part.”…
Ouch! Not exactly the approach to animal care that I was expecting. I guess if the tried and true method of playing the Indigenous card to get money from senior levels of government works, then why stop? You do know that they shoot dogs, right?