At the Humane Society & Shelter – SouthCoast in Dartmouth last week, a small dog that was in labor for multiple days was brought in by an owner who thought her pet was going to have to be euthanized.

“The uterus was the size of the dog,” said Melinda Ventura, executive director of the shelter. Working with veterinarian Anne Thompson from 4 p.m. to 3 a.m., the two completed the surgery that would remove the dog’s uterus, what appeared to be “three puppies merged into one,” and ultimately, save its life.

“I never saw anything like it,” said Thompson, who described the smell as “putrid.”

Ventura added, “It was insanity,” highlighting the challenges they ran into, including having the right tools and medications.

“I was looking it up in my surgery books, and nothing’s written about this, so I had to make it up as I went along,” Thompson said.

The surgery was performed in the shelter’s operating room, which was one of the stops available to the public at the 19th annual “Give Me Shelter” Gala on Saturday, Nov. 2, which is the shelter’s biggest fundraiser of the year, raising on average $35,000 to $50,000 annually.

Originally her office, Ventura said the operating room was established during the Covid pandemic, with the help of It’s All About the Animals in Rochester, after the shelter lost access to its main source for spays and neuters. 

Though she’s considered holding the gala at other locations in the past, attendees prefer the shelter so they can keep up to date with everything going on, such as the changes that have been incorporated since the pandemic.

Ventura and some fellow vets said they’ve observed some changes in the veterinary practices since they first started out. 

When operating on the dog in labor last week, she phoned another vet for a consult and despite having graduated a decade ago, she said she wasn’t able to provide much for the situation at hand. 

Back in the day, vets had to learn everything out of necessity, Ventura said. Now, everything is largely "referrals" and “specialty hospitals.”

Gerald Pietsch, a retired vet from Anchor Animal Hospital, said his first semester of vet school was only $500 and his education included an array of animals and practices that are largely only taught through special tracks now. 

He added the only specialty hospital when he first started out was Tufts and there weren’t many vets in the area.

Ventura highlighted how most vets are graduating with student loans they will never be able to pay back and many animal hospitals are being bought out by corporations, with costs only getting worse for pet owners.

“What we’re finding is, people are not able to afford routine vet care anymore,” Ventura said. “It really is a luxury to have a pet now.”

“We recommend people get pet insurance,” she added. “You have to now.”