I received the following email from reader Amy:
I am an avid follower/reader and love all that you do for Florence and all that Florence has to offer. Florence has grown into a place with soo much to offer. Unfortunately though, I realized this past weekend that we are missing something I consider VERY important to our community – an emergency vet. Over the weekend, the family dog was injured and had to be taken to a vet. After calling several vet offices and listening to answering machines, we were disappointed to find out that Florence has no after hours care for animals. You have to drive to either Columbia or Myrtle Beach to see an emergency vet. We quickly loaded the dog in the car and headed to the Palmetto Regional Emergency Hospital in Columbia. Upon our arrival, we met several other families who ALSO made the drive from Florence, Hartsville and Darlington just to see a vet. We all discussed how very unfortunate it was that our vets wouldn’t see animals after hours. If anyone ever had a serious problem in Florence with their animal, Columbia or Myrtle Beach just wouldn’t be close enough.I think its a shame that with all Florence has to offer, we do not have a place to take our beloved animals. Vets in this area are really missing the boat when it comes to after-hours care for animals. By the time we left last night, there had been more than 10 familes that came through the door, none of which were from Columbia. I truly wish that the local vets could get together and do something about this. When it comes to the family pet, it is just that…part of the family.
With the number of friends I have on facebook, I often see status updates about driving to the emergency vet. I remember that years ago there was an emergency vet. He drove here from NC and slept on a cot in the office. I can understand WHY that got old. He took really good care of my pup though. Any vets that read or if you work in a vets office, please consider this desperate need in Florence. Hopefully we can get our own emergency vet clinic soon.
After all– just LOOK at this dog! (Watch out. I kind of want to steal him.)
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Up until a few years ago Florence did have an emergency vet service or sorts. Some of the vets in the area would alternate being on call at night and on the weekend. I’m not sure why they stopped doing this. Dr. Causey, Dr. Hewitt, and Dr. Gaddy were among the ones that participated in this. It was wonderful knowing that someone was just a short drive away in case of an emergency.
Hey Flossip — Sally and I needed a vet for our 4 lb, 10 yr. old Maltese one Saturday night / Sunday morning and called the Humane Society — they said that Robby Hewitt at Hewitt Animal Clinic was on call — we called him and he came out at midnight on a Saturday night. It seems there must be a system already in place for this, so you might want to ck. it out.
This was a few months ago that we called Dr. Robby Hewitt.
That is good info! I will investigate it now, see what I can find out.
Rev. Hayes– I think you were blessed indeed. It appears they are no longer taking call.
Flossip – I can personally vouch for both Robby Hewitt and Allen Causey (and Dr. Gaddy before he retired) as Vets who have answered calls from me in an emergency situation. I am a client of both of them, but not every vet in Florence deserves a bad rap for emergencies. They are wonderful people who go out of their way for the animals and families who love them.
I do not think this was written to put down any of the vets in florence. I agree with the author that Florence does need to have an emergency clinic for our animals. I know that Vets like Dr. Causey and Dr. Hewitt are wonderful but Florence is getting larger and larger and not everyone knows about these two vets. So it would be nice to have a place that everyone knew about that they could take their animals in emergency situations.
I’m a client of one of the above-mentioned vets and when I called after-hours in a life-or-death emergency (and am an established patient with the practice), I received a recording which referred me to the emergency clinic in Columbia. Had it been another 30 minutes away, my dog would have died.
20 years ago when there were only 2 or 3 vets in this town, vets were willing to swap off weekends/after-hours with one another. Now we have far more vets but far less service. It does not make sense and does the animals of the Pee Dee a great disservice.
I shared this frightening experience in April. My cat was being treated by a local Vet and was released after two days. Sunday morning my cat’s back end and legs were paralyzed. I was hysterical and then had to drive to Myrtle Beach where my cat was put to sleep. No one should have to go through a situation where they have to drive that far in an emergency situation, especially if you are a client! That was the worst trip I have ever made. I sincerely hope that the Vets in Florence can find an answer to this problem. The animal owners in Florence need help!
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