The story continues …

We closed the first part of this interview with a look inside one of the rooms where dogs are worked on but not to the extent of requiring surgery.

That is carried out in specialist surgical rooms. Here’s a surgeon working on a dog as we passed by outside in the corridor.

It is always busy with the peak being from the end of April through to October. The COVID19 pandemic has seen an enormous influx of new patients with the most critical being those dogs that have an urgent need for care.

SOVC have also installed an MRI machine and here are two photographs of this incredible piece of equipment.

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We were allowed to tour much of the inside of the building, under the care of Renee, and here is another photograph of another room with three staff looking back at the camera. (Names unfortunately not obtained.)

I also want to share the following photographs before rounding off my piece.

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I started this post on the 2nd July with a statement that I wanted to explore in a little more detail the difference between dogs and humans, especially those humans who choose to become the veterinarian doctors of this world.

Dogs are pure in mind and most often loving towards us humans. They are intuitive and caring of us humans.  I can no better support that statement than share the ‘Welcome’ page of my blog:

Dogs live in the present – they just are! Dogs make the best of each moment uncluttered by the sorts of complex fears and feelings that we humans have. They don’t judge, they simply take the world around them at face value. Yet they have been part of man’s world for an unimaginable time, at least 30,000 years. That makes the domesticated dog the longest animal companion to man, by far!

As man’s companion, protector and helper, history suggests that dogs were critically important in man achieving success as a hunter-gatherer. Dogs ‘teaching’ man to be so successful a hunter enabled evolution, some 20,000 years later, to farming, thence the long journey to modern man. But in the last, say 100 years, that farming spirit has become corrupted to the point where we see the planet’s plant and mineral resources as infinite. Mankind is close to the edge of extinction, literally and spiritually.
Dogs know better, much better! Time again for man to learn from dogs!

Veterinarian doctors are subject to enormous pressures.

Take this video as an example:

According to the CDC, the number of veterinarians who die by suicide is going up. With rising student debt, increasingly isolated offices, and pet owners with social media, the veterinary field is becoming high-risk. “Not One More Vet” CEO and veterinarian Nicole McArthur joins CBSN AM to explain why vets are struggling and how her company is trying to help vet-to-vet.

SOVC doctors note the end of an animal’s life on a ‘Blue sheet‘; a paper sheet. Renee herself worked one Christmas Day at SOVC and there were 11 Blue sheets that day. Indeed Renee had tears coming to her eyes when she spoke of that Christmas. It is a profession that faces daily challenges full of emotion as the CBS video explains. One can’t be in the profession without being fully committed, both heart and mind, and yet that means that one can’t easily put up defenses against one’s feeling.

I paused in my note taking to recall Pharaoh and couldn’t keep my eyes dry and yet he died 3 years ago and we have others that we care for and love.

I am going to finish by quoting the mission of SOVC, for I think it is very special.

Our Mission

The doctors and staff of Southern Oregon Veterinary Specialty Center recognize that there is a special bond between pets and their human family. (My italics) Our goal is to work as a team, with you and your family veterinarian, to help you make the best decisions for your pet’s medical care. We are dedicated to offering the highest level of medicine, to providing a compassionate environment to those pets entrusted to our care, and to treat each pet as we would our own.

It is a very special and caring profession!

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