Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

IQALUIT (Jan 04/98) - Cat and dog owners in Nunavut's capital can all breathe a big sigh of relief next month when Heather Priest shines up her stethoscope and swings her doors open -- or more accurately, when she packs her equipment up, hops into her pickup truck and stops by for a housecall.

That's right, animal lovers. Iqaluit finally has its very own resident veterinarian and she's on the verge of starting up a part-time mobile clinic to treat the town's growing number of cats and dogs.

A graduate of the Ontario Veterinary College, Priest said she got the idea of opening her clinic shortly after moving to Iqaluit with her husband and seeing the need for continuous and local animal care. A team of vets from Montreal currently flies into the Baffin community twice a year, but for the rest of the time, residents have been either forced to send their animals to those same vets at their southern clinic or to wait for treatment until the practitioners return. Priest said her main goal in setting up shop was just to fill in between those semi-annual stops.

"I think it's a good peace of mind to have someone look at the animal. I'm hoping to cover the time when he's not here. Whether or not I continue to take on some of the responsibilities he does when he comes up here all depends on how things go and what the need is up here," said Priest, 30.

Community members said they were excited and pleased about the upcoming service but Priest wanted to stress that for most surgeries, cats and dogs would still have to go to Montreal for treatment because she wouldn't have the facilities or the qualified staff to assist her in safely performing the medical procedures. She was quick to add however, that if an animal was in desperate need of an operation and wouldn't survive the three-hour plane trip south, she would do her best to operate and save it.

"If it's something that the pet won't survive, yes I'd be willing to try. I'm looking at setting up a surgical area that I can use for emergencies and I'm looking at getting an anaesthetic machine."

While Iqaluit's population will eventually grow enough to support a full-time vet with a permanent practice, the high cost of setting one up and securing commercial space, especially during Iqaluit's current shortage, made the idea of a mobile business based out of her home much more feasible to Priest.

"Mainly I'll be travelling to people's homes. That's what people want up here. Many of the dogs are outdoor dogs and there's a lot of dog teams in the area and I have a vehicle and a lot of other people don't," said Priest, who estimated that her practice would cost around $6,000 to get off the ground.

She said she had spent most of the last month taking care of the necessary paperwork, including switching her Ontario vet license over so she can legally practice animal medicine in the NWT and ordering the medications and supplies she'll need. Priest also said she was checking into the legality of setting up a small practice area in her home in the event that an animal required constant supervision or needed to be hospitalized.

So, rest assured -- if little Fluffy or Fido needs a cast or if you would feel more secure knowing that a vet had examined the cut, scrape, limp or infection, watch for signs of Priest's grand opening next month. And if the worst happens and Spot needs to be put down, Priest said she would also be able to put down animals.

"If an animal is badly injured, I have the ability to euthanize them humanely with anaesthetic. Right now, the animals get shot...it's not wrong but if it was my pet, it would be traumatic enough to have to put the animal to sleep but to do it that way would be very difficult."