Remote Community Vet Services
Our Commitment to Helping Communities
We’re dedicated to supporting northern and remote communities by bringing essential veterinary care where it’s needed most. Our team provides physical exams, vaccinations, deworming, and reproductive implants to help reduce overpopulation and promote healthier animals. We also assist communities through pet food and supply donations and telemedicine support. Together, we’re building stronger, healthier communities—for both people and their animals.
Access to Care
Distance, weather, transportation challenges, and higher costs for food, fuel, and supplies make accessing care difficult for families and their pets.
That’s why the HBSPCA brings veterinary services
directly to communities—providing in-community care, reproductive implants, food and supply support, and telemedicine to help remove barriers and improve animal and community health.
Why Remote Outreach Matters
Many communities have no clinic within hundreds of kilometres. Costly travel, unpredictable weather, and transportation barriers can turn preventable illness and overpopulation into urgent crises.
Our teams travel by road, air, and water to bring compassionate, culturally respectful veterinary care directly to communities that would otherwise go without.
Meet Dr. Tammy Hornak, RRT, DVM
When she’s not traveling the world or on the road in a mobile clinic somewhere in Ontario, Dr. Tammy Hornak can usually be found with a cup of coffee in one hand and a dog leash in the other. A share owner of Grand River Veterinary Hospital and Lead Veterinarian for the Toronto Humane Society’s Rural Veterinary Services, Tammy has built a career that blends compassion, innovation, and a serious knack for logistics.
What is a Suprelorin Birth-Control Implant?
Suprelorin: A Humane, Accessible Birth-Control Solution
One of the most impactful tools in remote outreach is the Suprelorin hormonal implant—a non-surgical, temporary fertility control method.
How It Works
- A small, rice-sized implant is placed under the skin.
- It lasts approximately 6 months.
- It suppresses fertility in male dogs, male cats, and some female dogs.
- No anesthesia is required.
- No surgical facility is needed.
Why Suprelorin Is Essential in Remote Regions
- Helps stabilize and reduce animal populations humanely.
- Prevents unwanted litters in communities with no surgical spay/neuter access.
- Reduces roaming, aggression, and mating-related injuries.
- Supports community safety and disease prevention.
- Allows families time to plan for permanent sterilization when/if it becomes accessible.
Help Support: Adopt A Service
Your generosity keeps pets fed, families supported, and communities safe. Here are meaningful ways to help:
Send a Meal to a Hungry Pet
Sponsor the cost of nutritious food in communities where pet food is scarce and expensive.
Cover Preventative Care for a Pet in Need
Vaccinations, deworming, and flea/tick medication protect pets and people—especially in regions with rabies risk.
Sponsor Medical Treatment
Help a dog with an infected ear, a painful skin condition, or an urgent wound get the treatment they need.
Provide a Dog House
Give a northern dog safe shelter from the elements.
Sponsor a Suprelorin Birth-Control Implant
A six-month fertility solution that protects pets, families, and entire communities.
Sponsor a Volunteer or Veterinary Team Member
Help cover travel costs so our medical teams can reach communities that require multiple days of flights, driving, and lodging.
Support Supply Shipments
Fund shipments of food, wound care supplies, leashes, collars, and treatment essentials.
Give Where It’s Needed Most
Your flexible support helps us respond quickly to urgent needs.
Together, We Can Make Northern Communities Safer, Healthier, and More Humane
The HBSPCA is proud to stand alongside northern families, supporting the pets they love and strengthening the human–animal bond in places where access to care is limited. With your help, we can continue this lifesaving, relationship-building, and deeply important work.
Our Imapct
August 2025 Outreach Clinic
Over two long, rewarding days, our three-person HBSPCA team—working alongside a VWB representative—examined and treated 111 animals. Our impact included:
We provided care for pets with serious medical concerns, including ear infections, ingrown nails, traumatic injuries, wounds, lacerations, and even life-threatening fractures. Every animal received compassionate handling, pain control, and treatment options that respected the community’s realities.
Late Fall 2025 Outreach Clinic
Despite bitter cold weather, our HBSPCA team returned for a second clinic and once again saw strong community participation. Over two days, 107 animals received essential veterinary care. Our impact included:
We treated pets experiencing pain and mobility issues, including severe matting and chronic conditions. Immediate care relieved discomfort, while follow-up diagnostics helped ensure continued treatment after the visit—supporting healthier outcomes for animals and their families.
Our Strategy
The HBSPCA’s Remote Community Veterinary Services Program is built on partnership, sustainability, and respect. Rather than one-time interventions, we work alongside communities to deliver care that meets immediate needs while supporting long-term animal and community wellness. Our approach focuses on:
Community-Led Partnerships
That respect local knowledge, priorities, and culture
Bringing Care Directly to Communities
Removing barriers related to distance, cost, and transportation
Preventative Services
Including vaccinations and reproductive implants, to reduce overpopulation and prevent illness
Education and Support
Helping families care for their animals between visits
Sustainable Impact
Through follow-up care, telemedicine, and ongoing collaboration
By combining compassionate veterinary care with a long-term strategy, we help create healthier outcomes for animals—and stronger, more resilient communities.
Our Land Acknowledgement
The Hamilton/Burlington SPCA acknowledges that our work takes place on the traditional territories of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe peoples. This land is covered by the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement to share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes in peace and friendship.
We recognize the enduring presence, knowledge, and contributions of Indigenous peoples—past, present, and future—on this land, including the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, the Six Nations of the Grand River, and other First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities who continue to live and work here.
As an organization dedicated to the well-being of all living beings, we commit to learning from Indigenous perspectives on kinship, stewardship, and respect for all animals and the natural world.
Looking Ahead: Continuing Our Commitment
These visits are only the beginning. HBSPCA remains committed to long-term, relationship-based support for remote northern communities. Every visit brings stronger partnerships, healthier pets, safer communities, and renewed hope.But this work is only possible because of people like you.
Emergency Supply Support
Food and Essential Goods
Families often share their own scarce food with their pets—in some cases feeding bread to growing puppies because nothing else was available. Your support ensures these pets have access to proper nutrition and families have one less worry during winter.
