Ministry of Fisheries, Marine Resources and Agriculture announced the opening of a Temporary Veterinary Clinic in Villimale’, the island adjacent to Male’ City.
The clinic’s services are set to commence on 7 January, 2019 at the Ministry's administrative building in Villimale'. Consultation prices, service charges and appointment schedules will be announced at a later time on the Ministry’s official website.
In an official gazette published on Thursday, the Ministry stated as a large number of young people have expressed their enthusiasm for owning pets in the form of birds, cats and other creatures, and as the pet industry is hence notably expanding, the centre is intended to meet the healthcare needs of the animals.
The ministry highlighted that the establishment of such a centre was due to numerous requests made by the public, adding that the current ‘mobile’ means of delivering veterinary care to homes did not meet healthcare regulations.
When can the government bring a vet or have a clinic in Maldives? It’s just frustrating and really heartbreaking to see our pets suffer. Responsible authorities needs to act on this urgently! It’s been months since we last had a vet available
— Nuz (@nuxxz) July 11, 2018
Noting difficulties faced by pet owners such as the unavailability of veterinary anaesthetic drugs due to importing restrictions as well as a lack of surgeons, the ministry stated that a registered clinic would be able to legally acquire sensitive medication as well as host surgeries.
In order to address public demand, the Fisheries Ministry operated a ‘Mobile Veterinary Service’ for a number of years, where a visiting veterinarian would attend to patients calling in with sick pets.
Hi President Elect @ibusolih. Could we please have a permanent vet in the Maldives? And facilities for proper medical attention and vaccines? Thank you so much! @farraah93 @iman_rshd
— PabloGrizzly (@GrizzlyPablo) October 9, 2018
However, due to the number of appointment requests and the spatial dispersion of populations in Maldives, a number of concerns were raised by the public over the years, regarding difficulty in accessing the service, inability to perform surgeries and other such limitations.
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