When Sally Rodgers moved to the Sequim area in 2020, she assumed the community would have options for her and other pet owners if they needed emergency care.

“We had done a lot of dog fostering and had lived in a community that always had after-hours care,” she said.

A lack of facilities on the Olympic Peninsula and veterinarian offices so busy that pet owners sometimes struggle to get immediate care often forces them to travel to the closest emergency pet care in Poulsbo about an hour away, across the Hood Canal Bridge, she said.

That’s not an insignificant problem, Rodgers says, considering Clallam and Jefferson counties are home to an estimated 61,000 dogs and cats, and an estimade one in three pets need after-hours care per year.

“The need is urgent,” she said.

Rodgers is on the board for the nonprofit Pet Emergency Group (PEG), whose mission is “to help build, grow, and sustain access to after-hours emergency pet care on the Olympic Peninsula” and also strives to be a resource for local pet owners.

The group, which boasts 40 active volunteers, hosts a fundraiser from 1-5 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 24, at Whimsy Park, next to Jose’s Famous Salsa, at 130 E. Washington St.

There, group volunteers will greet supporters with food, drink, raffles, auctions, giveaways, a pet photo booth and more.

PEG also hosts a free scavenger hunt in conjunction with the event, called Spot Spot, during the month of August. To play, enter one of the 17 participating downtown businesses, spot the Spot (find the spotted dog), and get a game card stamped by the business. Turn the card in during the festival for an instant prize and enter the grand prize drawing for a dinner at Alderwood Bistro (do not need to be present to win). See petemergencygroup.org/scavenger-hunt.

Coalition for pets

PEG formed in formed in December of 2021 out a group of passionate pet owners who met on the facebook group Next Door. They looked to address the needs of those pet owners “seeking the creation of a sustainable, community focused, and accessible after-hour emergency pet care hospital.”

Since then, the group established a fiscal sponsorship partnership with Olympic View Community Foundation and created a website (petemergencygroup.org) that offers step-by-step advice for pet owners, both before and during emergencies.

The group visits with community groups to provide information and awareness, including the Clallam County Economic Development Council, Jefferson County and Sequim chamber of commerce groups, Rotary clubs and Realty groups, as well as at events like the Clallam County Fair, Sequim Farmers & Artisans Market and others.

The pet-focused group also looking to collaborate with Peninsula College to offer a locally-based licensed veterinarian technician training program.

The ultimate goal for PEG, Rodgers said, the goal is to establish the after-hours and emergency care facility and the professionals to staff that clinic — no easy task, as the number of veterinarians and licensed veterinary technicians is dropping: according to a 2021 Journal of American Veterinary Medical Association report, 40% of veterinary owners are selling their practices in next five years.

“We have researched many paths — a nonprofit clinic, a corporation coming in, that’s how most are ERs are run,” Rodgers said. But there’s likely not enough of a population on the Peninsula to make that happen, she noted.

Buying property and building a facility to staff is likely out of the question, she said, considering the costs.

Instead, PEG is to try to find a facility that could house after-hours care services, then get a veterinarian to establish a business here and “we’ll support them any way we can,” Rodgers said.

A facility would likely be centrally located between the West End and Port Townsend, so either Sequim, Carlsborg or the east side of Port Angeles, she said.

Rodgers, whose background includes a variety of health care environments, lives in the Agnew area with her husband and their two dogs, Bear and Mila.

PEG meets via ZOOM at 4 p.m. the on the first Tuesday of each month. For more information, visit petemergencygroup.org or facebook.com/PetEmergencyGroup.