One Sunday morning, early, before the sun’s warmth has established a foothold and the air is still crisp, on a bucolic tree-lined residential street in Berkeley California, residents of the West Berkeley neighborhood around San Pablo Park can be seen greeting each other cordially with a hello or a friendly wave as they pass one another while strolling the neighborhood, many with a leashed furry companion. But beneath the pleasantries is a current of ill will and thoughts of malice.
A shortage of veterinary practitioners and appointments to see them is at the heart of the darkness. Local vets have been inundated with new patient inquiries since the first wave of pandemic adoptions started in May of 2020. Local pet owners are frustrated that area veterinary clinics are not taking new patients due to the high demand. Many have started wishing ill will on neighbors’ dogs, purchased voodoo dog dolls, and admit to spreading doggy health misinformation online to hasten the demise of neighborhood dogs. They smile and say, “hello,” but secretly pray for cancer and automobiles to take out their canine competition.
Berkeley resident, Nancy Miller, admits she is secretly cursing her neighbors’ dogs when they greet each other on morning walks. Says Miller, “I have been calling the local holistic vet office every week since April 2021 asking if they are accepting new patients. And each week I’m told to call back again in a few weeks. I took that to mean that as older dog patients die off, slots will open for new patients. So I’ve taken it upon myself to energetically hasten the process.”
Hayward resident, Howard Ngo says that he posts supposed Vietnamese folk remedies for doggy ailments on his local neighborhood FB group page, in the hopes that the long life of dogs in his city will end and he might be able to see a vet soon.
Pet owners recognize that this problem is a supply chain issue. The vet to pet ratio is heavily unbalanced. But that won’t stop new fur papas and mamas from wishing that their neighbors’ dogs drink algae-tainted pond water while walking in the regional parks. Recently, signage at a park popular with dog walkers has appeared encouraging swimming and drinking at ponds known to contain algae toxic to canines.
Office Administrator Suzy Piere at the Walnut Creek Dog and Cat Health Center confirms, “There’s only so many pets we can see in a day. It sounds morbid to say it out loud, but when a patient succumbs to an illness or is put down to avoid prolonged suffering, appointment slots do open up to new patients. With the way pet parents seem to be doting on the health of their pets so much more vigorously these days, it doesn’t surprise me at all that their competition is getting that more intense.”
Health fears are nothing new, love breeds conflict, and loyalty is vicious.