Hello, supporters of after-hours emergency veterinary care,

I have another update from a petition respondent. Dean Laura Molgaard at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine met with me. Two action items came out of our conversation.

First, Dr. Molgaard shared that the Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association hosts an annual career fair that is attended by many U of MN veterinary students. Local veterinarians who are interested in hiring more staff to cover night and weekend emergency hours, but are having trouble recruiting, could attend the career fair to connect with up-and-coming veterinarians in Minnesota.

Second, Dr. Molgaard shared some big-picture information. A contributing cause to our lack of emergency care in rural areas of Minnesota is a nationwide shortage of veterinarians. A major bottleneck is the relatively small number of U.S. veterinary schools to train new veterinarians, such that they have to turn away many good applicants. Further, the U of MN Veterinary School is facing a shortage of veterinary faculty, which limits the number of vets who can be trained in Minnesota.

How can we help? We can contact our state legislators to tell them that our state’s veterinary shortage is a problem, and ask them to provide additional funding and support to the veterinary school. Feeling ambitious? Contact your federal representatives too.

If you live in Bemidji, our state legislators are Representative Grossell (rep.matt.grossell@house.mn.gov) and Senator Green (sen.steve.green@senate.mn). You can find the name and contact information for your Senators and House Representatives for any location in Minnesota at this state website: https://www.gis.lcc.mn.gov/iMaps/districts/ Just type in your address or select your location on the map, and you will get a list of your legislators and their contact information. You can call their office to leave a message or write them an e-mail.

Suggested points to include in your phone message or e-mail:

• Tell your legislator that you are their constituent. For example, you could introduce yourself and say that you reside in their district.
• State the problem that is bothering you: a shortage of veterinarians for pets in Minnesota/nationwide, contributing to a lack of after-hours emergency care within 2 ½ hours of your home.
• Tell your legislator why this issue is important to you, or how it affects you and/or your community. Personal stories, if you have them, really help.
• State what you’d like your representative to do: Sponsor legislation that provides financial and logistical support to the U of MN Veterinary School to recruit more faculty and increase capacity to train more veterinarians.
• You could also ask your representative to sponsor a student loan forgiveness program for veterinarians who work in rural areas of Minnesota or work for practices that provide after-hours emergency care
• If you'd like, share a link to our petition: https://www.change.org/p/bring-night-and-weekend-emergency-veterinary-vet-care-to-bemidji-mn
• Try to keep your message brief and direct.

Please consider writing to your legislators! Thank you, everybody!

-Megan (petition creator)