FORT FRANCES — A career in large animal medicine is more rewarding than some may realize, says Dr. Marialisa Laurella from Nor-West Animal Clinic, who is one of two large-animal veterinarians based in the Fort Frances area, fully licensed to serve both large and small animals.
Around 80 per cent of graduates from veterinary school will choose to work with small animals because of the perception of better work-life balance and avoid the odd hours to perform calving, she says.
However, as someone who has worked with both small and large animals since her graduation in 2011 from the University of Guelph’s veterinary medicine program, Dr. Laurella feels proud to be able to serve the farming community.
“I do wish more people realize how rewarding a career in large animal medicine can be,” she said. “And I guess I do wish more people realize how great this community can be for a career and animal work.”
Most recently, Dr. Maria purchased a Shock Wave Therapy Machine for horses. State-of-the-art technology is available for all large animals, such as portable equipment for Ultrasounds, Semen evaluation, digital X-rays, therapeutic laser treatments, and equine dental power floats.
The clinic also has two large animal-certified farm vehicles.
Nor-West Animal Clinic has provided Large Animal Services to the entire Rainy River District for over 50 years. They serve all types of animals—horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, and chickens—offering emergency services and routine work for clients.
Lately, the local clinic has seen a decline in phone calls for large-animal vet services.
Dr. Laurella believes it’s because dairy farming has also been on the decline.
“A lot of dairy farms that were around when I first graduated are no longer around, either because people have decided to get out of dairy farming or they decided to retire,” she said, adding that the lifestyle for farms is not for everyone.
“If it’s Christmas morning, you still have to go out and milk the cows. With so much more stress on work-life balance, I’m not sure if that’s something that everybody wants to take on.”
Dr. Laurella looks forward to things changing in the future.
“One can only hope it picks up again,” she said.
In 2008, the Rainy River District received large-animal veterinarian services from two doctors—one from Manitoba and the other from Thunder Bay. Their names were Dr. Stacy Angus, a partner in Giroux Veterinary Services, and Dr. Dan Matyasovszky, owner of Slate River Veterinary Services.
The doctors alternated visits to the district to provide routine herd health and emergency services.
Dr. Angus travelled three hours into town, but she had stressed that she would be available for emergencies. Between the two doctors, she hoped that they would be in the area three out of every four weeks.
In those months, the Nor-West Animal Clinic had been served most recently by monthly visits from Saskatchewan veterinarian Dr. Blaire Simonson, an arrangement by Dr. Dan Pierroz, the former owner of the clinic.
“When Dr. Dan was forced for medical reasons to stop doing large animal work himself, he wanted to make sure that the farmers in the district still had service. So he was bringing in locum veterinarians to cover the most basic services needed so that farmers could continue to function,” Dr. Laurella said.
“I graduated in 2011 and came here and started doing the large animal work at that point because there wasn't a full-time large animal vet before that.”
Shortly after, in 2012, Dr. Doug Veldhuisen joined the Nor-West team and immediately started doing large-animal work as well, both routine calls and after-hours work.
“Because at the time, there was really only me doing them through at this clinic,” Dr. Laurella said.
The distance in a large geographical area is a unique challenge to providing services for large animals.
Dr. Laurella said that it can sometimes take her up to an hour and a half to arrive at a farm, which also, at times, requires her to rearrange her schedule on the spot.
“Trying to provide especially emergency care in a timely fashion because it generally means we have to drop everything we're doing,” she said. “Emergency obviously always takes precedence.”
Attracting new staff is another challenge. Oftentimes, people looking for a career in large-animal medicine will move to areas where farming practices are more prevalent.
“We don't have a lot of farms or districts, and a lot of people who are interested in doing large animal medicine only won't necessarily come to this district for jobs; they usually go to areas where there are a lot more intensive farming practices,” she said.
“So trying to convince someone that this is a good place to come back to and work at can sometimes be difficult when you're still isolated.”
Nor-West prides itself on being active in the community for training and engaging with people interested in a veterinary career. Co-op students from the local high schools have received opportunities at the clinic for exposure to the profession to decide whether it is the right path for them.
“And we have had some of our coops applying to vet school,” Dr. Laurella said.
The clinic has also taken in externship students who are already in veterinary school.
“They spend their summer with us getting exposure to mixed animal practice and what it means to be on call and have the variety of caseload that we have,” Dr. Laurella said. “We've always been quite happy to accept students and work with them.”
Shortly after his retirement, Dr. Pierroz, the former owner of Nor-West Animal Clinic, received the 2024 Golden Life Membership Award from the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association for his extraordinary contributions to animal welfare and veterinary medicine.
Dr. Pierroz was nominated by Dr. Laurella and Dr. Velhuisen.
For more information about the Nor-West Animal Clinic, visit this website.
Fort Frances Times / Local Journalism Initiative
