Kildare vet practice closes doors to large animals

A veterinary practice in Kildare has had to close its doors to large animals, due to a failure to recruit vets.

Vetcare Athy ceased its large animal service on 6 March, a decision which its vets said was made with “much regret”.

In a letter to farmer clients, it said that the decision to stop treating large animals was an extremely difficult one to make and that it arose out of factors which were beyond the practice’s control.

“You may be aware that for many years we have struggled with getting large animal vets and the last year has been particularly challenging. Brexit and Covid-19 have taken a large number of vets out of general practice.

“Due to failure to recruit, we have come to the sad conclusion that we can no longer provide a quality, large animal veterinary service, therefore bringing to an end a long-standing relationship between us and you, our client.”

It said that great efforts were made by the clinic to avoid reaching this point and that serving its “large animal clients in the community has provided us with great professional and personal fulfilment and we will miss this”.

The letter was signed by vets Kevin Maher, Andrew Doona and Tom Spillane. The clinic’s large animal vet Kieran Conway has joined Oaklawns Practice in Carlow and Vetcare Athy was liaising with the Carlow practice to ensure a seamless transition for farmer clients.