It’s a new year, and at PetSmart Charities of Canada, we’re kicking it off with a serious commitment to doing our part to solving a big problem. Nearly 1 in 5 pet parents in Canada have wanted or needed preventive care but have not been able to access it due to affordability or inability to get an appointment. And thanks to continued support from our donors, PetSmart Charities of Canada announced a commitment of $18 million over the next five years to help break down the geographic, cultural, and financial barriers that prevent pets from receiving the veterinary care they need to thrive.
As the top funder of animal welfare in the Canada we have a responsibility to lead the charge in identifying and responding to widespread trends and problems. PetSmart Charities of Canada is calling on partners and stakeholders like you to create solutions — because we’ve reached a tipping point. We need your help, and we want to invest in your efforts, too with this significant commitment.
As we all know, when pets don’t receive adequate care, they suffer — and their families do, too. When not addressed, small and preventable problems become bigger and more costly. A lack of veterinary care means preventable diseases can be passed on to people and other animals. Many loving pet parents are then forced to relinquish their pets into the pet shelter system. It’s an impossible choice to make, given that people from all walks of life benefit from caring for these important family members that love us like no other.
We must do better, and together, we will. PetSmart Charities of Canada estimates it would cost more than $5 billion annually to bridge the gap for pets currently receiving no vet care. More needs to be done to expand availability of lower-cost services, build access for remote communities and ensure there are enough veterinarians able to perform a variety of services through clinics and urgent care centres. To help lead the charge, we’re taking a leadership role in marshaling partners and stakeholders to develop solutions to solving the gap in veterinary care access.
How did we get here? While affordability remains the most prominent barrier, additional challenges contribute to the current veterinary care gap, including:
- Veterinary Shortage: Pet ownership is steadily on the rise with nearly 60% of Canadian households owning a pet, but statistics show that the need for veterinary care is not keeping pace.
- Veterinary Deserts and Cultural Inclusion: Within remote and underserved regions, veterinary practices are difficult to find close-by, making trips to the veterinarian costly and sometimes impossible. Additionally, as veterinarians are currently listed among the top five least diverse professions, cultural divides can often occur between clients and veterinarians, discouraging some pet parents from seeking care.
- Economic Challenges: The cost of living has spiked heavily, and with the Consumer Price Index up 6.8%, already strained lower-income households especially feel the impact. Pets whose pet parents cited not being able to afford medical care made up more than 15% of owner-relinquished animals at shelters. Between 2.5 and 7.5 percent of Canadian pets live in food insecure households, making it especially difficult for those pet parents to cover vet expenses.
- Regulatory Challenges: Nationwide, fragmented and varied veterinary regulations pose challenges to the development of easy, efficient and consistent solutions such as telemedicine and even to establishing low-cost clinics.
How PetSmart Charities of Canada Will Support Innovative Solutions
No single solution or organization can solve this complex issue; we need all-hands-on-deck. PetSmart Charities of Canada has committed $18 million over the next five years and will take a multi-faceted approach by funding a variety of solutions to improve access to adequate veterinary care for all pets.
First, we will help build solutions across the system of veterinary care — from funding new and more affordable types of clinics to addressing the specific needs within diverse and underserved communities. Our “Accelerator” grant program helps low-cost clinics to expand and will help us share best practices and encourage others to join us in ensuring affordable veterinary care is accessible to those who need it.
Next, we’ll support options to help pet parents better afford care as inflation continues to take a toll. This involves developing innovative solutions that reduce and help manage the cost of care for all, including telehealth care models as well as supporting on going, data driven, research on more cost-effective ways to treat common ailments.
It’s also critical that we build alliances with the veterinary educational system to inspire innovation in the marketplace. We want to do our part to bolster and support the noble veterinary profession and encourage their community to also make contributions to solving this problem.
Finally, we’ll tackle an issue so many of us are invested in — ensuring that the animal welfare space is one that welcomes, equips and includes a broad spectrum of leaders. In remote and or underserved communities, people often trust and connect best with their friends, neighbors and local leaders. Supporting and encouraging changemakers to develop unique solutions with an emphasis on meeting the specific needs of their communities is key to creating options for veterinary care. It’s what we call our “Incubator” grant portfolio, and the first cohort of recipients working with Indigenous communities is already underway. We’ll be sharing more of those journeys with you in the months to come as our grantees build community and capacity for grassroots efforts around opening access to veterinary care where it’s urgently needed.
We hope you’ll take time to learn more about how you, too, can join our coalition. Please message me via LinkedIn to connect and learn more. If you’re not already on our email list, please sign up here to receive updates on grant opportunities and other news. Together, we can help pets, and the people they love, thrive!
