49°
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
7 Day Forecast
Follow our weather team on social media

Lockdown pet boom creates busy work days for veterinarians

2 years 10 months 2 weeks ago Thursday, May 13 2021 May 13, 2021 May 13, 2021 6:23 PM May 13, 2021 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE – A COVID pet boom is causing a ripple effect as life gets back to normal.

Appointments to see a veterinarian are scarce after lots of people picked up pets to help ease the stress from lockdowns.

In 2020 alone, the Perkins Road Veterinary Hospital doubled its amount of clients.

“It’s exhausting, it’s a busy day,” Dr. Amanda Maciasz said.

Now, with only so many hours in the workday, the staff are having to see more animals each day than normal.

“It's a lot of routine care, a lot of skin issues people are home more so they see more. There's lots of walk, lots of dog park time so we see more injuries there too,” Dr. Maciasz said.

That's where Savaria Goodman took her 8-month-old pup, Clover on Thursday. She first brought her home last November.

"During the pandemic with having that alone time I wanted to have someone to cuddle up to and talk to and kind of feel your emotions.,” Savaria said.

Savaria says the bond they created lifted her morale while staying at home, and there have only been some minor issues.

"Some shoes that I miss and some chargers that I could use but other than that no regrets at all,” laughed Savaria.

The desire for pets doesn't stop with the new duo.

“The pet in the household has changed forever. The importance of pets and the companionship are here to stay,” said Dr. Maciasz.

And it appears, also here to stay are those back-to-back appointments filling the hours at veterinary offices for some time to come.

More News

Desktop News

Click to open Continuous News in a sidebar that updates in real-time.
Radar
7 Days