Page 4 - Finding Sanctuary_August 2020

When everything was tightly closed in New Jersey and Pennsylvania during the height of the pan-
demic, only those employed by essential businesses and front-line medical personnel were reporting to
work as usual. Many of us didn’t think of veterinarians, techs, and administrative staff at veterinary
practices and animal hospitals as front-line. Yet they were. They were caring for our pets just as they
would during normal times, albeit with different procedures and operations to keep both pet parents
and staff safe.

In an upcoming series, we will be bringing you the stories of people in the veterinary field who held
down the fort during the pandemic. Here is one vet who, even as COVID-19 barreled over our area, con-
tinued to do his job, caring for our pets and, in many ways, us pet parents as well.

Daniel Stobie, DVM, MS, is the Chief of Staff at NorthStar VETS, an emergency, trauma, and special-
ty veterinary hospital located in Robbinsville, NJ. Dr. Stobie told CAS when the pandemic hit in mid-
March, the hospital had to institute curbside service to keep everyone safe. Pet parents would call the
hospital when they were outside in their car with their pet. Parking spots were numbered for ease of
finding the right pet. A member of the staff would come to the car and take only the pet inside for an
examination. Parents and vets would have a conversation over the phone about the exam results and
treatment.

These requirements can certainly be a hardship for pet families, but for the hospital staff, the pandemic
itself has caused quite a bit of difficulty, both logistically and emotionally. “I would say in my 30 years
of practice, it’s probably been one of the hardest, if not the hardest or most challenging times to be
working,” Dr. Stobie says. As an emergency hospital, NorthStar is open 24/7. They are generally busy,
but during the pandemic, it was even busier, as regular vets’ offices were closed or had limited hours.
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On June 8 , the hospital had a “soft” reopening--allowing a masked person can come inside with their
pet. Payments and paperwork are done online to cut down on interaction. Due to the newly imple-
mented COVID-19 protocol, parents are not allowed to visit their pets in the hospital however instanc-
es which euthanasia is required, NorthStar is allowing families to be with their pets. That was true
even when the pandemic was at its height. For safety reasons, families leave the hospital directly from
the euthanasia room.