Kirtland veterinary clinic to see temporary changes

  • Published
  • By Adam Bailey
  • Nucleus staff writer
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  The veterinary clinic at Kirtland is going from two veterinarians to one part-time veterinarian this summer, and some services will be reduced and others put on hold.

"To offer the level of services we try to provide, we need at least two full-time veterinarians, so it's about cutting what we can, temporarily," said Capt. David Rowland.

Rowland, the full-time veterinarian, will leave the clinic in July. His replacement, Capt. Tracey Brown, should arrive in August.

"I'll be here in June, but I'll be in and out for most of the month, and I'm already booked for the month, so we're pretty much down to one vet already," Rowland said.

Wellness appointments, routine check-ups, vaccinations and health certificates for permanent change of station will still offered, but there will be at least a two- to three-week wait before an appointment can be made. The health certificate for PCS will need to be planned farther ahead until the clinic is fully staffed again.

Surgery will not be available until the new veterinarian arrives in August.

The veterinary clinic offers the most of the same services as other clinics, but with a primary role in caring for military working dogs. The clinic takes care of the 12 working dogs on base, the six working dogs at Cannon AFB and the Transportation Security Administration dogs at the Sunport.

"Obviously, this doesn't take up all our time five days a week, eight hours a day, but it does take up a lot of our time," Rowland said.

Currently the clinic cares for about 4,000 pets between the two veterinarians, who focus primarily on wellness issues, such as keeping pets healthy, preventive medicine and dealing with routine medical problems.

"The one thing we don't offer and probably won't ever offer is walk-in emergency care. We just don't have the staffing for that," Rowland said.

The clinic will be open during regular hours for pet owners to pick up medication and other items. A veterinarian will be on duty Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

For more information, call the veterinary clinic at 846-4276.