116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Iowa Humane Alliance seeking veterinarian
Low-cost spay/neuter clinic finding it difficult to fill Dr. Doll’s shoes
CEDAR RAPIDS — The region’s only spay-and-neuter clinic needs a new veterinarian in a tight job market, but Iowa Humane Alliance officials hope to find that person soon.
“We realize how important we are to the community and how many people rely on us,” said Stacy Dykema, IHA’s executive director. “Having to reduce our services to almost nothing — that’s not where we want to be. We’re doing everything we can to find a veterinarian who is going to support our mission and provide the same kind of quality surgery that we always have. We don’t want people to think we’re going to fold.”
The national vet shortage complicates Humane Alliance’s search for a replacement for Dr. Jennifer Doll, its staff veterinarian since the nonprofit’s founding in 2003. Doll is leaving the area at the end of the month, according to Dykema.
The tally posted in the Iowa Humane Alliance clinic’s lobby last week showed Doll and other veterinarians working part-time have performed 95,663 procedures over the past 20 years.
The Humane Alliance, Iowa’s first, quality low-cost spay and neuter service, draws pet owners from 31 counties and animals from 29 shelters and rescue operations to its clinic at 6540 Sixth St. SW.
“They’re a really great resource for the community,” said Grace Zhang, veterinarian associate at Animal Clinic in Iowa City, who also volunteers at the Humane Alliance. “We realize that not all pet owners can afford all levels of care, but they still want to be responsible and get their pets spayed or neutered. We don’t know where we’re going to refer people for the services they provide.”
Until Doll’s successor is found, though, IHA is cutting back its services.
“We’re asking clients that can afford a spay/neuter surgery at a full-service clinic to please take that avenue,” Dykema said. Those services can run to several hundred dollars, while IHA charges $80 for dogs, $40 for pet cats.
‘Community cats’
The situation is especially acute for what IHA calls “community cats,” feral felines living mostly outdoors. Residents who trap those cats may bring them to the clinic for spaying or neutering and a rabies vaccination for $35. The service, which includes notching an ear to indicate the cat has been neutered, was available without appointment four days a week for up to two cats a day.
“Our team is really experienced in handling those community cats,” said Kathleen Schoon, IHA development director and volunteer coordinator. “We have the flexibility so we don’t have to schedule, but we have changed it from two cats to one cat per day.”
The community cat program helps keep the semi-wild cat population and diseases under control.
“There’s no other facility that offers those services to community cats,” Schoon said.
Dykema has hired a recruiting agency that’s contacting candidates to succeed Doll.
“Cedar Rapids is fortunate enough to have so many caring veterinarians that recently retired,” she said. “It would be nice if we could have that expertise, at least part-time.”
Vet shortage
There were 3,025 veterinarians licensed to practice in Iowa in January, according to the Iowa Board of Veterinary Medicine. That’s an increase from 2,907 last year and 2,109 in 2006, but not enough to meet demand from both pet owners and the livestock industry.
“The honest truth is that right now there is a shortage of veterinarians across the United States,” said Dr. Dan Grooms, dean of Iowa State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. The state’s only veterinary program enrolls about 160 students each year.
“In Iowa, there’s a shortage of veterinarians serving the food-producing industry and in rural areas,” Grooms said. “One factor is just the increased demand for veterinarian services, especially on the companion-animal side. More people are owning pets.”
The Iowa Humane Alliance has 16 employees, a dozen full-time, and about 40 volunteer staff.
“Everything we do does end up making a ripple-effect difference for what goes into shelters and rescues or ends up going out into the community,” Schoon said.
“We have overcome so many challenges, but this one we don’t have any control over,” Dykema said. “That’s what’s so frustrating about this.”
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