With the closest emergency animal clinics about an hour away from Schuylkill County, Dr. Kate Harnish at Anthracite Animal Clinic said that while local veterinarians would love to help, there are many factors involved.
Harnish, Ashland, reopened Anthracite in 2011, which is a few miles west of Lavelle and Route 901 along High Road in Butler Township. She is continuing the work of its late owner and her mentor, Dr. Yvonne T. Walacavage DVM, who died at age 57 in 2008.
"If I had a dog that was in a severe emergency situation, I would want to take it to someone that deals with emergencies all the time," Harnish said.
She said that while as part of their schooling, veterinarians learn emergency medicine and critical care, many take "school, after school," and acquire more training in emergency care. Board-certified critical care veterinarians then work in 24-hour clinics or clinics with only evening hours, Harnish said.
She said surrounding Schuylkill County, only Carbon, Columbia and Lebanon counties do not have emergency care clinics.
The facilities in Schuylkill County are set up as general practices, and while they can treat more severe cases during their day hours, most aren't equipped to handle extreme cases, and the animals must be driven a further distance.
"Those facilities are set up with all the extra inventory you need to keep cases alive and doing well," Harnish said. "A lot of the general practices around here just aren't set up that way and they don't have the extra staff to take care of emergencies if they just walk in."
Along with the extra work to become a certified emergency care doctor, Harnish said economics plays a role in Schuylkill County, where people are often unwilling to pay what emergency care costs.
"I can't answer for everyone, but I think that in this area they don't want to put that extra inventory and extra staff into it, if people aren't willing to pay the bills," she said.
In order to operate as an emergency facility, it would require extra supplies and doctors and more money being spent for electricity, in addition to a demand for the care.
Barbara Umlauf, director of Hillside SPCA, Pottsville, said that years ago there were talks about the county vets rotating weekends to provide emergency care, but it never happened.
Without emergency clinics, Umlauf said whenever Hillside has emergency situations, the closest places they can go is either Wilkes-Barre or Allentown, which is a problem, especially when they have an animal that is bleeding or in shock and needs immediate attention.
Harnish said that she remembers when they were trying to provide that care in the county and at that time she worked as a vet technician under Walacavage.
The clinic ended up not seeing many cases.
"There was a like guinea pig that could have been seen during normal hours," she said. "Some nights I think with emergencies, it's like a full moon and the place is booming, but then any other night you can sit around and money is spent with the lights on and the staff here, and there's just not enough cases to pay the bills."
Since the clinics in Allentown, Reading and Wilkes-Barre serve larger areas, they are more suited to handle those types of emergency situations and can afford to keep their doors open at night.
Some of the clinics that Harnish said Anthracite refers to is Animal Emergency Service of Berks County, Shillington; Animal Emergency Center, Watsontown; Animal Emergency and Referral Hospital, Pittston; Valley Central Emergency Veterinary Hospital, Whitehall; and Animal Emergency Medical Center, Mechanicsburg.
"You know you're getting the care you need by driving further," Harnish said. "That extra drive, the places have facilities with a blood bank, donor dogs, the staff there all night to watch for reactions."
While Anthracite is still young, only reopening a couple months ago, she said if they could ever expand, they would think about adding 24-hour care for at least their clients, but as far as if an animal is hit by a car and is in critical condition, Harnish would recommend to just start driving since that's what the walk-in clinics are there for.
"It is a pain, and none of us want to spend the gas money and drive a little further, but if you want good care, if the dog or cat needs the care, I recommend doing it,' Harnish said.