BC wants to give veterinarians power to make their own calls on euthanizing strays

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – BC’s veterinarians may not have to wait so long to put critically injured stray animals out of their misery.

The province wants to give vets the ability to make their own calls when it comes to euthanizing strays.

As of now, vets need to get permission to euthanize from one of 26 special provincial constables. That’s leading to lengthy delays trying to get in touch with one of those officers, especially in remote places or during off-hours.

That means an animal could wait hours before a vet is allowed to put it out of its misery.

“It could, absolutely, because legally, the vet is not permitted to do anything,” says Marcie Moriarty with the BC SPCA.

The province is now considering allowing vets make their own decisions and euthanize the injured strays without having to wait.

“Veterinarians always have the best interest of the animals at heart,” says Moriarty. “With these changes, it’ll permit veterinarians — if they can’t locate a special provincial constable — to euthanize an animal if it’s in critical distress. And of course, the veterinarians are the experts here.”

She says the move is long overdue. “Both the college and ourselves were very much behind this and to be honest, the change should have been made years ago. It’s exciting this is coming into play.”

The change would only apply to stray animals or those without tags or other ownership identification.

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