North Mississippi Pet Emergency clinic 'bridging a gap'

TUPELO – Veterinarians take care of animals and pets, small and large, during their clinics’ regular hours, but what happens when there’s an emergency after the doors close?

Until recently, pet owners in Tupelo could call their local vet clinic, and a rotation of five clinics would provide treatment, much like having an on-call doctor. But in more rural locations, clinics were left on their own and it was more difficult to provide 24-hour treatment when there was only one veterinarian.

In a collaborative effort with veterinarians Drs. Sonya Bryan, Aimee Daniel and Kirk Shumpert, the North Mississippi Pet Emergency clinic opened its doors to help.

“We’ve all struggled with how to support the community and provide emergency services for many years, and it took several of us stepping forward and stepping out of the box and just doing it,” Bryan said.

The emergency clinic, located at 1830-A N. Gloster St., just north of Planet Fitness and across from Cadence Bank, is open from 5:30 p.m. until 7 a.m. on weekdays and on weekends.

“This was an effort to be able to give clients a place to come and get emergency care and to also give veterinarians a chance to not be exhausted from day to day,” Bryan said. “Most of us work 12 hour days already.”

Bryan said that a veterinarian shortage nationwide makes it more difficult to provide the care needed. A recent study by Mars Veterinary Health revealed that there could be a shortage of some 24,000 veterinarians by 2030.

Soon, the North Mississippi Pet Emergency Clinic will be staffed by a rotating team of local veterinarians. In the meantime, the core group of Bryan, Daniel and Shumpert will work at the clinic.

“We have the complete support of the veterinary community, and the response has been all positive,” Bryan said. “Many of them are thankful they can send patients somewhere after hours and on the weekend.”

The clinic has everything a pet emergency room needs, including two exam rooms, a large treatment area and a surgical room. Digital x-rays can be done at there, and bloodwork can also be analyzed on site as well.

The clinic is entering its third week of operation. It saw some 50 pets during the first week and more than 100 in its second week.

So how does a pet owner use the services at the clinic?

“They can call their veterinarian and get the number from them, or they can call here directly,” Shumpert said. “Just call us if you want. We’ll provide a brief estimate on the cost, and when you get here, we get started pretty quickly.”

Pet owners also can come directly to the clinic, but the clinic isn’t open during the day; it operates strictly after hours, so calling it during the day is not advisable. Rather, pet owners should call their clinic during regular business hours.

“We don’t do any wellness care or vaccines, nothing like that,” Daniel said. “We are bridging a gap. Our goal is to allow a patient to come in that has an emergency and we can address it whether it’s a big emergency or if it’s something like it’s a Saturday and you can’t take your dog to your vet until Monday, but the dog is traumatizing his ears. And while the dog won’t die, it’s an uncomfortable thing. So we can bridge that gap and provide treatment, and when they leave, we send along paperwork so that their vet can know the pet has been here and know what’s been done and there’s no dropping of communication between anybody.”

In addition, some pets need 24-hours emergency care, so if needed, a pet owner can have their pet brought over to North Mississippi Pet Emergency for overnight care, then have it taken back to their regular veterinarian the next morning.

For more information, call (662) 780-0580.