PRAH is no longer accepting new clients.
If you are fortunate enough to have an animal companion, you understand the importance of being able to access veterinary support, both for preventative and emergency reasons.
Unfortunately, we are no longer accepting new clients.
That being said, if your pet (without a regular veterinarian) is in need of urgent veterinary attention and I am able and available, please call (902)532-7387 and we will address on a case-by-case basis.
If you happen to need veterinary assistance outside of our business hours, I recommend seeking, instead, service from either Coastal Care Veterinary Emergency (Halifax) (902)703-2323 or Maritime Veterinary Emergency (Dartmouth) (902)932-0838.
This has been a challenging time for veterinary teams, often mirroring what citizens are experiencing on the human medical side. This is not exclusive to our area or even our province or country. The short of it is there are more companion animals than ever, and not enough veterinarians and their teams to service them all, especially in rural areas. There are steps being taken to improve this, but as with anything, it will take time.
As you may know, Port Royal Animal Hospital is a ONE-veterinarian small animal hospital. In order to be licensed as a hospital, veterinarians must provide access to 24 hour emergency service for their patients. Shared after-hours coverage (with neighbouring hospitals) has become necessary for sustaining this impossible expectation. For quite some time now our accepting of new clients has been restricted, to ensure there is a balance of the human health of the veterinary team and being able to offer appropriate standard of care to its current patient roster.
Even more recently we have ceased keeping a waitlist. It has also become necessary to define what is an “active client/patient”: although we may have seen your pet in the past, if 2 years or more have passed since their last Dr’s visit, they are no longer considered “active” and with that will not be eligible for afterhours emergency service or outpatient services until the Dr/Patient relationship is reestablished.
With my eventual retirement from hospital ownership by June 2027 (year 35 as a veterinarian), I have been taking action to ensure the hospital and team and services currently provided will continue without me. In the eventuality a new owner takes over, it is likely they will accept new clients. Until then, I must preserve my ability to provide care and be responsible for my current patient roster.
We are truly sorry we cannot help everyone. We encourage you to keep looking and wish you every success in finding your family’s veterinarian.
Respectfully yours,
Jody Cunningham, DVM
updated January 22, 2026