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PANNIQTUUQ/PANGNIRTUNG
Finding a veterinarian is no cake walk for Pangnirtung pet-owners, but maybe a cake walk is precisely what is needed in order for the hamlet to get one.

Amy Graham-Oliver with her son Henry at a fundraiser to bring a veterinarian to Pangnirtung. - photo courtesy of Markus Siivola

The Pangnirtung Humane Society hopes so anyway; its first-of-many loonie-toonie fundraisers last Friday Nov. 23 aimed to raise money with a cake walk, 50/50 draw and bingo in hopes of bringing regular veterinary clinics to town.

"One thing we've heard is that people would like to see a veterinary clinic come to the community," said volunteer Delia Siivola, explaining that a visiting vet or two would be able to provide key spay and neuter services, vaccinations and general health checks.

"If we consider the flat cost, there's the cost to fly a vet in, the cost of time because most vets have a private clinic, the cost of accommodations, and a cost most people don't think about for medications, vaccinations and materials needed for surgery."

While Siivola doesn't know at this point exactly how much a travelling vet could cost, considering the possibility of reduced airfare and donated services, the newly founded humane society with the help of the Hamlet of Pangnirtung and the Iqaluit Humane Society aims to raise between $2,000 and $5,000.

It has been a decade or more since a vet was last brought into the community. The welcome veterinary visit is off to a promising start with the successful fundraiser well attended and supported by all the organizations and businesses in the community. Siivola says more such events are in the plans. The PHS hopes to have a veterinary visit as early as April 2013 and at least one more before teaming up with Iqaluit's NunaVet sometime in fall 2013.

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