PHOENIX — The Arizona Humane Society (AHS) is the first animal welfare organization in the country to offer telehealth services for owned pets.
Kelsey Dickerson, a spokesperson for AHS, explained that Senate Bill 1053 — which was signed into law into a few years ago because of advocacy efforts — allows for licensed veterinarians in Arizona to offer telemedicine veterinary services for owned pets.
“This is definitely groundbreaking and this is something that is definitely going to help not just pets here in the Valley, but pets throughout the state of Arizona,” Dickerson told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Wednesday.
AHS launched the telehealth program for owned pets back in April. Dickerson said the reason it took so long for AHS to roll out the telemedicine option was due to the nationwide veterinarian shortage.
Why is AHS offering the telehealth services for owned pets?
Dickerson said that AHS’s public veterinary clinics, as well as clinics throughout the state, are overrun and the veterinarian shortage can make it difficult to get an appointment in a timely manner, especially if it’s urgent or something that can be taken care of quickly.
“We have our Sunnyslope campus veterinary clinic as well as our South Mountain public veterinary clinic. So, this is going to allow us to be able to help even more pets, especially those who maybe their pet parents don’t have access,” Dickerson said. “Maybe there’s some behavioral issues that they don’t do best in a veterinary clinic. … There are (also) parts of Arizona that the closest veterinary clinic could be a few hours away, which as you can imagine is definitely a huge hurdle, especially if a pet is in need.”
However, the telemedicine option is not meant for all services.
“Of course, this is not for emergencies. If you do have an emergency or if you need in-person assistance such as vaccines or surgeries or whatever it might be, definitely want to make sure that you’re getting in-person care,” Dickerson said. “This can be for simple things such as skin issues, small wounds, if your pet is coughing or sneezing or even has a little bit of a limp. It’s allowing the veterinarian to be able to establish those issues and if there is ongoing care that’s needed, then they’re going to be able to let you know if they need to come in or not.”
Dickerson added that this will free up space at veterinary clinics for the very difficult to treat cases that require in-person care.
The hope, according to Dickerson, is that the new telemedicine option will also help decrease the amount of owner surrenders, which AHS has seen an uptick in the last few years.
“We hope that more organizations and more states follow suit as well because as you can imagine not just here in Arizona but throughout the country there is definitely a pet capacity crisis in our shelters,” Dickerson said. “So we’re really hoping that this helps more pets get the care that they need.”
Owners can book telehealth services for their pets on Arizona Humane Society’s website.
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Heidi Hommel contributed to this report.
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