Veterinarian shortage affecting SWFL shelters

We all know how difficult it can be to see a doctor. It turns out that our pets may be facing the same dilemma.

The cause is similar: there are too few animal doctors to go around.

Over the past few years, many of us grew our families with a pet. The problem is that the number of people to care for them did not expand.

Hanna Schnars, a veterinarian who works out of the Cape Coral Animal Shelter, said, “There’s a huge veterinary shortage right now, and it’s actually gotten worse since COVID. Just with the pandemic and people adopting pets and stuff, we’re kind of not producing enough veterinarians.”

It’s gotten to the point that many vets are moonlighting to keep up with demand.

“They’ll do a full-time job, they’ll work relief on the side, or they’ll just do relief full-time and go around to different clinics, and there’s always a need there,” Schnars said.

Schnars treats between 20 and 30 dogs and cats a day.

Liz McCauley, executive director of Cape Coral Animal Shelter, said, “We’re fortunate here that we have vets like Dr. Schnars and Dr. Kathy, and we have a full-service medical clinic and vet tech, so we have the capability and the resources to take care of animals.”

It’s a mix of sick visits and scheduled vaccines. Healthy animals need annual checkups, too, and it can take weeks to get an appointment. A lot like a family doctor’s schedule, but there are only 30 vet programs in the country feeding the need.

“I think there’s something like 115 medical schools in the U.S., so it’s much less for veterinary schools, and each of those classes has 100, 120 or 150 students, so we’re producing maybe 3,000 to 4,000 vets a year,” Schnars said.

Competition is high for animal doctors who can go anywhere with their degrees.

A Lee County native, Dr. Schnars chose to return home.

“I wanted to be near my family, and I wanted to serve my own community, too,” Schnars said.

Taking care of our fur babies is a labor of love.

Salary is one of the reasons for the shortages since the pay is less than that of human doctors.

Still, there are many people who want to be a vet, and more programs are opening up.

It’s expected demand will be caught up in about 10 years should the trends continue.