Puppy in distress dies on the way to Amsterdam, no emergency doctor to be found in Den Helder

For Karen van Beest, the deceased puppy was the last straw. She is treasurer at Dierenambulance Den Helder and Hollands Kroon and started the petition. “It made me so angry. It must be your pet.” The animal ambulance, which is entirely managed by volunteers, also increasingly does not know where to go for emergencies.

Van Beest has not yet had time to think about what exactly she wants to achieve with the petition: “I want to take it to politics. I think they can do more with it. There is a major shortage of veterinarians and I understand that. But it just gets more and more difficult, you also have to deal with frustration from the audience.”

The owner of the eight-month-old puppy shared her story on Facebook (text continues):

Shouldn’t something be done about it? the pup’s owner also wonders in the Facebook post. The many comments under her post suggest it is.

There is a lot of confusion about where owners can take their pets. The animal ambulance also notices this. Van Beest: “We sometimes hang on the line for half an hour before we know whether we can go somewhere with an animal. It would be nice if they at least let the animal ambulance know when they are closed that we are not in front of a closed door. stand.”

The comments under the Facebook post also discuss where an emergency vet can be found at night. Not in Den Helder – that is paramount. The next option that is suggested is Veterinary Practice Schagen. The reactions to this are contradictory: some say that this practice is accessible to everyone, 24/7; others say this is only the case for registered clients of the practice. A final group states that even customers now hear an answering machine at night. They also have to go to Amsterdam from 23:00.

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“That’s right,” confirms veterinarian Gertie Speelman of veterinary practice Schagen. The practice is linked to a timetable with 5 other practices in the region. It is the only emergency service that can still be reached outside office hours, but no longer at night. “Until June 2022, that service was indeed 24/7. Unfortunately, we had to stop that because we experienced a lot of pressure and received a lot of calls from patients from other practices outside the service. We were woken up so much at night.”

They still run emergency services in the evenings, weekends and holidays. This involves rotation between the six affiliated practices, none of which is located in Den Helder. “Any practice that wants to participate in that service structure is welcome, but we do expect that if you want to participate, you will also participate.”

As long as this is not the case, the practices within the association cannot help pets from other practices outside office hours. Speelman: “Those shifts are already filled from early in the morning until late at night. You notice that people just start calling around. You just can’t have that, because you have your hands full.”

Disappeared emergency service Den Helder

There are four veterinary practices in Den Helder and Julianadorp. A few years ago there were five, and then they rotated evening and weekend shifts. Until veterinary clinic chain Stad & Land took over the practice at the Binnenhaven in Den Helder.

“They indicated that they wanted to take over the emergency services,” says Sjaak Salet of veterinary practice Salet in Julianadorp. His practice is one of five that the emergency services rotated. “The other parties from Den Helder also found this attractive to participate.” The existing emergency timetable was discontinued and Stad & Land would take over, says Salet.

But the practice in Den Helder that is managed by Stad & Land has now closed. The emergency service is still at Stad & Land, so for emergencies animals have to go to the nearest emergency practice, which is in Alkmaar. But this is no longer possible, says Salet: “It turned out that City and Country Alkmaar couldn’t handle the demand either, so it has now moved to Amsterdam.” So pet owners in Den Helder are therefore urgently dependent on the long drive to Amsterdam.

Stad & Land has been approached for a response, but was not available due to busy times.