We are deeply saddened following the announcement of the closure of the Avian and Exotics Department at the Ontario Veterinary College’s Health Sciences Centre. As veterinarians, we are committed to providing treatment for all animals, big or small – that includes avian and exotic patients. This service is critical to the community, the staff and students, and most importantly, the animals they treat.

Many clients will have little to no alternatives for care and we fear this may endanger the health and wellbeing of countless animals. OVC offers numerous specialty diagnostics in addition to avian and exotics care, including (but not limited to) ophthalmology, radiology, and radiation therapy, many of which will not be available for these patients elsewhere. Moreover, this is one of the only facilities where emergency after-hours care is available for avian and exotics patients. This puts an additional strain on referring veterinarians and other specialists in the already volatile climate that is COVID-19.

Lastly, this service is crucial to the education of future generations of practicing veterinarians. The current DVM curriculum does not have nearly enough exotics hours to cover the hundreds of species we may encounter; it is limited to basic knowledge, making experiential learning through rotations in the Avian and Exotics Department at OVC essential. No locations in Ontario currently have avian and exotics specialists that offer rotations for students. This includes the Toronto Zoo and the Toronto Wildlife Centre, both of which are not taking students due to the ongoing pandemic. Students are also limited in their ability to safely travel internationally for rotations. Other specialties (including, but not limited to, pathology, anesthesia, radiology, neurology, cardiology, surgery, internal medicine, and oncology) also rely on exotics cases for learning in order to be able to service these patients externally once they graduate. Cutting off experiential learning for current DVM students, interns, and residents will only ensure that fewer people will be comfortable with these species in practice, and lack of care will be amplified.

Section 4 “Clinical Resources” of the AVMA accreditation requirements outlines “normal and diseased animals of various domestic and exotic species must be available for instructional purposes, either as clinical patients or provided by the institution”. It seems suspiciously convenient that the closure of the department will occur after the renewal of OVC’s accreditation, given this requirement. Students in Ontario rely on the Ontario Veterinary College to provide a complete and holistic education in order to prepare them for a career in veterinary medicine. This college prides itself on consistently being ranked one of the “top” veterinary schools in North America, however there are major shortcomings of the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program including a lack of dermatology, dentistry, and now avian and exotics specialties to facilitate students’ learning. Further, while the Ontario Veterinary College consistently ranks highly for academic achievement and research impact, it ranks low for employer reputation, which is concerned with the employability of graduates from the DVM program. If the Ontario Veterinary College wants to continue to pride itself on a high ranking, the institution should endeavor to focus more on producing high quality and well-rounded DVM graduates.

Finding alternatives for all parties poses an insurmountable and clearly overlooked challenge.

Given that the OVC Pet Trust launched a $8.36 million project to support specialty services at the Ontario Veterinary College just days ago, we feel the financial challenges used as justification for the closure of this service are unwarranted. We urge Dean Jeffrey Wichtel and the Ontario Veterinary College to more critically evaluate the damage that closing this service poses, and reconsider their decision.