There has been an increase in the number of animals being taken to the Animal Protection Society Samoa (A.P.S.) for treatment despite the COVID-19 pandemic. 

A.P.S. veterinarian Dr Harriet Thornton told the Samoa Observer in an email on Friday that their clinic at Vailima has been busy in recent months with more animals being taken in despite the pandemic.

She said the rise in the visits confirm the need for veterinary services despite the economic hardships families in Samoa were facing.

“This shows there is still a great need for veterinary services despite the economic hardship lots of families are facing,” Dr Thornton said.

“It also shows that there is a huge amount of compassion and care for animals in Samoa and animal health is becoming a priority for many people.”

When this newspaper visited the A.P.S. clinic at Vailima on Friday, Dr Thornton and her staff were attending to two dogs that were taken in for treatment by their owners.

Dog vaccination and de-sexing were some of the in-demand services offered at the clinic.

Reflecting on the impact of the pandemic on their operations, the veterinarian said it can be “easy to forget” about animal health during a human public health crisis, such as the pandemic.

“However, as we know that animal health and the good health of our human communities are closely linked, it is important not to forget to ensure our pets are healthy,” she said.

“Preventative healthcare is key to ensuring our animals stay healthy and therefore reducing the risk of spread of transmissible diseases between animals and humans, especially during pandemic times when our human and animal healthcare systems are so busy and understaffed. 

“As humans and animals are confined together during a pandemic lockdown, this risk of disease transmission is never higher!”

Offering advice on how people can take care of their pets during the pandemic, Dr Thornton pet-owners should ensure they are vaccinated, de-sexed, fed an appropriate diet and receive a flea and worm treatment every month.

She said this is key to keeping your animals and your families healthy, and added that a large number of pet-problems that are reported to their clinic could have been prevented if these boxes were ticked.

“During a country-wide lockdown, access to veterinary services will have to be restricted, this means that it becomes more important than ever to ensure that animals are looked after everyday.

“We could provide emergency services only during the 1 week shutdown so now we are back open as usual. 

“We are busier than ever trying to catch up on the missed appointments over the last week.”

Currently the clinic is short-staffed after four volunteers left the A.P.S. over the Christmas break to head home, which the veterinarian said is making it difficult to offer their full services.

“Recruitment of qualified veterinary professionals remains a struggle for everyone worldwide at the moment, but we are working on bringing more Vets in as we know there is a great demand for them,” she added.

“At this time we continue to ask for patience from our clients, as there is a waiting list for de-sexing surgeries and we are working through the backlog as quickly as we can.”

To take your pets to the A.P.S. appointments can be booked through the clinic on Telephone 22403 (Monday to Friday 9am to 3pm) with Dr Thornton emphasising that it's best to call quickly as there is a wait of a couple of weeks for desexing services.

For vaccines, flea and worm and check-ups she said they are open at their Vailima clinic during normal opening hours. However, in line with the Government’s COVID-19 Alert Level 2 requirements, face masks and vaccine cards are mandatory for all A.P.S. visitors.