Nationwide shortage of veterinarians puts strain on South Florida animal clinics
MIAMI -- A nationwide shortage of veterinarians has resulted in a huge strain on animal clinics that are struggling to meet demand.
During COVID, more people adopted pets and with more pet owners and less vet staff clinics are really feeling the pinch.
In Miami, clinics are trying to find doctors to help.
At VCA Knowles Animal Clinic, nine staff members left within a three-month period leaving them overwhelmed.
The boom in pet adoptions, retiring veterinarians and less students heading to vet school are all contributing to the problem, experts say.
The job stress, long hours and other issues during COVID also caused an exodus.
"You had to protect people, protect the staff and so it's just a whole other world," said Dr. David Wise, the owner of Knowles. "So now we're just trying to come out of that and readjust to the new world and the biggest problem is we don't have enough people to spread the work and get the work done."
Inside the clinic, there were signs warning pet owners they could face a wait of more than a five hours if their pet's need was not critical. At Knowles, they treat the worst, first, hoping to help save the lives of critical patients.
fWise hopes changes are made to make it easier for veterinarians to get into the business
He is currently trying to get his staff up and is looking to hire between two and three more veterinarians. He asks pet owners to be patient as they try to get the work done.
"People have to be a little more patient and they have to realize we're getting to them as quickly as we can," Wise said. "Sometimes it's going to be easy days, sometimes it's going to be rough days but overall it's just a matter of trying to learn a new world."