On November 24, Guy Isabel found Félix, his big 11-year-old Maine Coon cat, hiding in the corner of a room. “He was screaming, he was trying to vomit to the point of dislocating his jaw. I started to panic,” says the 65-year-old man, single, who lives in the Centre-Sud district of Montreal.
The nearest veterinary clinic did not have the equipment needed to help Felix. Mr. Isabel therefore had to go by taxi to an emergency room open 24 hours a day, the Montreal Veterinary Center. After a $238 consultation, he chose, out of emotion and distress, the cheapest option offered to him to try to save his life partner: an endoscopy aimed at searching for the lump. of hair that was obstructing his system.
Unfortunately, the intervention failed. The veterinary team then informed Mr. Isabel that there was a chance of saving the animal through a surgical procedure valued at $7,000. An amount that was simply out of reach for this low-income man, who already said he was living “on a dime”. It was with great sadness that he had to resolve to have Félix euthanized.
His final bill is $3,428, of which $1,128.77 remains to be paid. “While you are grieving, your financial means take another hit,” says Mr. Isabel. I didn’t eat for five days. » He will try not to pay the rest of his bill. “If I continue to pay, I won’t be able to afford the bare minimum to live on,” he says, deploring the lack of empathy he perceived from the clinic staff.
We are judged, we are told that we should not have animals if we cannot afford them. But when we got it, we had the means. There come situations where things suddenly hit us, where we find ourselves at an impasse…
Also on low income, taking care of her sick husband, Michèle Boucher tried to raise donations to pay for care for her 7-year-old cat, Tiger, who had symptoms of kidney failure. Without success. She finally had him euthanized about ten days ago, reluctantly. “Our cat was our antidepressant,” she says with emotion. “We are judged, we are told that we should not have animals if we cannot afford them,” she denounces. But when we got it, we had the means. There come situations where things suddenly hit us on the head, where we find ourselves at an impasse…”
A widespread phenomenon
Euthanasia for economic reasons, otherwise avoidable, has always taken place in clinics. But since the Order of Veterinary Physicians of Quebec (OMVQ) and the Association of Quebec Veterinary Physicians in Small Animal Practice (AMVQ) do not compile data on euthanasias practiced in the province, it is difficult to assess whether these are currently on the rise.
Several speakers interviewed by The duty however, mention that the phenomenon of “economic euthanasia” emerges each time a recession or an inflationary surge occurs.
This is also what the D feels on the groundr Sébastien Kfoury, who is the first shareholder of the Vet et nous banner clinic where Mr. Isabel first went. “We feel this financial tension there, which is more present now, with inflation and the rise in interest rates,” reports the veterinarian. It is certain that there are clients who are having their animal euthanized at the moment, who would not have done so last year. »
It is to limit the damage that the Animo Foundation for Life, whose Dr Kfoury is ambassador and vice-president, was established. It finances part of the care to save the lives of animals belonging to people living below the poverty line. It is the veterinarian who must make the request for his clients, agreeing to assume 15 % of the intervention costs, while the client must pay 33 % the invoice’s.
For its part, the OMVQ insists to its members that we offer something other than state-of-the-art care to animal owners. “There is always plan A, but it is also possible to have a plan B or a plan C,” mentions its president, Dr Gaston Rioux. Solutions which are sometimes not optimal, but which are less expensive.
Moreover, the Dr Kfoury notes that customers are increasingly opting for plan B or C these days. And others choose to delay visiting the veterinarian or starting treatments until the situation becomes critical.
Abandonments on the rise
Faced with the impossibility of paying for the care their companion needs, some owners of poor animals take another avenue: abandonment. Shelters such as those of the SPCA and Proanima have also noted a sharp increase in this phenomenon this year. “One in six animals is abandoned for medical reasons. This year, more than in previous years, people are not able to set aside money for unforeseen health emergencies for their animal,” says Laurence Massé, general director of the Montreal SPCA.
Some are forced to hand them over to NPOs so that they can care for them. “Recently, a couple came to carry their dog who had just been hit by a car and had a fracture. He couldn’t afford to pay a few hundred dollars, so he abandoned the dog,” says Dr.r Vincent Paradis, director of animal care at Proanima. “The first thing we did was put a cast on him, and then we placed the animal with a new family. It’s a bit of an aberrant situation. »
In Quebec, NPOs like his are not authorized to offer veterinary care to individuals. However, Proanima, like the network of SPCAs and SPAs, would like to be able to do this at a low cost to provide a service to low-income animal owners. “There are a lot of disadvantaged people that no one can help, there is a void. A model of a non-profit organization or social economy enterprise, whose objective is not profit, would really have added value,” indicates the Dr Heaven.
It is a project that the OMVQ supports, but which requires a regulatory change under the Office des professions du Québec, indicates the Dr Rioux. The office of Sonia LeBel, Minister responsible for Government Administration and President of the Treasury Board, affirms that “the question of professional practice within a non-profit legal entity is one of the themes analyzed” as part of the project of modernization of the professional system launched last May.
Guy Isabel believes that it is necessary to find ways to help people in distress during episodes like the one he experienced. “I think of the elderly who live alone with their animal. Their mental and physical health is likely to decline. »