PORT ANGELES – A grassroots group of pet owners and animal advocates are trying to get emergency pet care established in Clallam County.

Right now, the closest after-hours emergency care is in Poulsbo and many times folks are turned away from there and have to go to Seattle. The long drive has been tragic for many, who have lost their pets enroute to get emergency treatment.

Sally Rodgers is part of the Pet Emergency Group.

“We’re just a grassroots organization. A lot of us met each other actually through ‘NextDoor’, and it was the problem that kept coming up. People were writing stories, sad stories, tragic stories about experiences that they had had trying to get emergency services,” said Rodgers.

Rodgers says this week they made significant progress in possibly getting access to a facility and perhaps getting vets willing to re-locate here to staff it.

“We’ve made progress with identifying ER-experienced veterinarians that are interested, and more than one. And we also have opportunities right now with a veterinary facility that is available, that is already equipped, which would really lower our costs in terms of starting up after hours,” said Rodgers.

Rodgers says her group fully supports the veterinarians already working here. She says the problem is its an industry that needs more people.

“Veterinarians, unlike human medicine Doctors don’t have the support that we do in the human world. They don’t have pharmacists, they don’t have hospice, they provide everything and they’re tired. They work long hours, they’re fatigued. There’s a lot of burnout in the industry. I want to give a shout out and a thank you to our local veterinarians and to sort of dispel this myth that they should be doing that, they cannot not do what they do and then get up in the middle of the night and provide emergency specialized, emergency care which needs specialized equipment too. It is too much,” said Rodgers.

The Pet Emergency Group has been actively telling its story locally and launched website at petemergencygroup.org