In response to COVID-19 the Animal Care Hospital of Williams Lake is moving to emergency management only.
“All elective procedures, we are going to be putting on hold at this point in time,” veterinarian Dr. Doug Magnowski told the Tribune Monday.
“If anybody has any questions they definitely need to phone and we will deal with any cases that need medical attention or any cases that are follow-ups medication wise or prescriptions wise — all that sort of stuff.”
The staff will deal with any cattle-related issues as best they can, he added.
As he asked for everyone’s patience, Magnowski said customers will be directed to wait in their vehicles and alert the receptionist when they have arrived.
“We want to try to maximize our social distancing situation.”
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Magnowski said so far veterinarians are being advised that human to animal contact is not a concern for transmission of the virus, however, if a person coughs on their animal and they are sick that is a concern.
“Another thing we need is for people to tell us if they are sick or if they have travelled outside of the country within the previous 14 days,” Magnowski said.
“We are handling each of those animals as an isolation case. We are still seeing them, but they could potentially have the virus on their fur or something like that.”
The clinic was fully booked this week, but the office has tried to contact as many clients as possible to cancel all elective spays and neuters, etc.
“But, puppies that need to have their first vaccinations — that’s important. We don’t need a bunch of parvo cases and such out there. Things like that we will deal with though, but in a way that minimizes the risk to our support staff. We are going to be potentially rotating staff so we minimize the amount of people who could potentially get exposed.”
To reach the clinic call 250-392-5510.
Dr. Ross Hawkes, owner of Williams Lake Veterinary Hospital, said if anyone has questions they can reach out for clarification by phoning his office at 250-398-8253.
“We are still here,” Hawkes said.
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