For years, remote regions of Québec, Canada, have been facing a severe shortage of veterinarians specialized in large animals. In Abitibi, an area more than twice the size of Vermont located some 500 km northwest of Montreal, this situation is a serious concern for local livestock breeders, especially since the only farm animal veterinarian living in the region retired at the end of April 2020.

In early January 2020, I accompanied Dr. Germain Nappert, a country veterinarian from Southern Québec on one of his tours of Abitibi. Since 2015, the veterinarian has been visiting the region every two weeks at the request of the Québec Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

Well aware that the current shortage of large animal veterinarians in Abitibi is about to get worse, the provincial government of Québec and the Association of Veterinary Medicine Practitioners of Quebec are working hand in hand with other stakeholders to identify sustainable solutions.

In the meantime, Dr. Nappert continues his visits to the region, out of love for large animals.

This photo reportage was published in Montreal's French-language daily newspaper La Presse on April 19, 2020: https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/regional/202004/18/01-5269987-la-presse-en-abitibi-par-amour-des-grands-animaux.php