If you live in the communities, finding medical care for your four-legged friend just got harder.
Carolynne Fudja, the Yukon’s only mobile vet, closed up shop last week.
“I’m not leaving because I don’t like my work or I don’t like where I live,” said Fudja.
“I really love my clients and I’ll miss them.”
Fudja is heading to Nova Scotia on May 1. She’s keeping the reasons to herself.
She started Lots of Latitude Mobile Vet five years ago.
She had been in the territory working for Yukon Vet, which occasionally visited the communities.
When Yukon Vet closed down, Fudja saw an opportunity.
With a Honda CR-V, the backseats removed and crammed with about 226 kilograms worth of equipment, Fudja took her practice on the road.
She visited Watson Lake five times a year, Faro twice a year and Haines Junction two to three times a year.
She’s been to Teslin and Carcross a few times and also does house calls around Whitehorse and Marsh Lake.
Fudja would normally set up shop in a community centre of some form or another, but wasn’t averse to performing surgery right on a client’s kitchen table.
In the five years she ran the service, Fudja has cared for thousands of clients.
Earlier this month, she sent out just under 400 letters to regular customers, notifying them personally that she would be leaving the territory.
“The reason for the late notice to my clients was because I did try to find somebody to take over the practice,” she said.
“And I wasn’t successful.”
However, she doesn’t think it will greatly affect veterinary services in the territory.
“Before I started, that service wasn’t really available,” she said.
Pet owners in Watson Lake can still drive their pets into Whitehorse for treatment.
Both Alpine Vet and Copper Road Vet were notified before Fudja sent the letters out to her clients.
Dawson has its own veterinary clinic, which also services Old Crow from time to time.
“A lot of thought went into making this decision and it wasn’t an easy decision either,” she said.
“I did it for five years and really enjoyed it.”
The feedback that Fudja has received from her clients has been really positive, she said.
“They’re very understanding.”
Contact Chris Oke at
chriso@yukon-news.com