A group of Alaska Native organizations is launching a new rural veterinary public health program in July to provide care for animals in 80 villages across the state. That care includes rabies vaccinations, testing for infectious diseases, and spaying and neutering.
Mike Williams, a musher and the chief of the village of Akiak in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region, said that he and other Alaska Native leaders have been advocating for more veterinary care in villages for years.
“In Akiak, there were two rabid foxes shot this past winter, and there are many loose dogs,” said Williams, who is also an advisor for the program. “I think the main need is vaccinations with rabies and parvo.”
The new two-year program, a partnership between the Alaska Federation of Natives and the nonprofit Alaska Native Rural Veterinary, brings free vet services to villages.
“This program is going to be such a blessing to the communities we serve,” said Angie Fitch, executive director of Alaska Native Rural Veterinary. “Veterinary care improves the quality of life for both pets and people.”
Rabies is endemic in northern and western Alaska. Arleigh Reynolds, a former musher and the medical director for Alaska Native Rural Veterinary, said that up to 25 people are exposed to the virus each year. The exposure usually happens when rabid wildlife, like foxes, bite village dogs.
“Dogs have been part of life in rural Alaska since people have been in rural Alaska,” said Reynolds, who also started the veterinary medicine program at University of Alaska Fairbanks. “When something that has always been a huge benefit to a society becomes a potential threat, it's really a problem, right? It disrupts the whole foundations of that society or culture.”
Access to veterinary care in villages off-the road system is often a challenge, Reynolds said, and traveling to get care is costly and can leave villages without valued professionals for long stretches of time.
Reynolds also said that in parts of Alaska, children are bitten by dogs at seven times the national average. He said the new initiative can help address both issues.
“Most importantly, it'll save trauma on people and dogs,” Reynolds said. “But it'll also save communities and health-providing organizations an incredible amount of money.”
Taking care of pets in villages can also help protect subsistence resources, Reynolds said. One example is vaccinating against distemper, which is contagious and fatal to animals that many Alaska Native communities hunt, like seals.
In the past decade, tribes have passed several resolutions at AFN conventions to support improvements to veterinary care. Last year, Sen. Lisa Murkowski co-sponsored a bill to get vet care paid for by the Indian Health Service. Rep. Nick Begich also introduced legislation to improve access to vet services for tribes.
Fitch said she hopes the new program will act as a bridge on the path toward permanent and sustainable veterinary care for tribes in Alaska and Lower 48.
