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Leaving them in stitches in Nunavut News/North

Iqaluit may have seen its last biannual Rotary Club veterinarian clinic, Dr. Robert Aucoin said, as Iqalungmiut veterinarian Dr. Leia Cunningham starts her mobile clinic service in mid-November.

“This may be our last time,” he said. “At least people will have vet services, which they badly need here.”

Cunningham will be working out of a 21-foot van that has full clinic capabilities, including X-rays, her father Duncan said. They are hoping to convert their Apex home into a permanent clinic by November 2012.

Aucoin has operated the Rotary clinic for three years, taking over from Dr. Don Floyd, who visited Iqaluit for 25 years, Aucoin said. Canadian North flies veterinary staff to Iqaluit, and the federal government provides a space for the clinic.

Half the proceeds from services go to Rotary, and the other half to Aucoin and his staff. With almost 300 patients per session, the clinics raise about $60,000 annually for Rotary, said member Mike McPherson, who organizes the clinic with his wife Angela.

“He’s exhausted by the time he leaves,” McPherson said. “He doesn’t stop.”

Despite this, Aucoin says he will miss his clinic visits.

“I love the North, the change of scenery and pace,” the veterinarian from Ste-Agathe-des-Monts, Que. said.

“We’ve made good friends and met a lot of nice people.”

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