The most many of us get to see of a veterinarian hospital consists of the reception area and waiting room, but this weekend everybody had a chance to take an up-close and personal look behind the scenes at the Pembroke Animal Hospital during its open house on Sunday, Oct. 14.

The event was part fundraiser, part field trip, but based on the faces of the visitors, it was all fun.

Outside along Pembroke Street East, kids braved the cold and rain, and lined up for pony rides and hot dogs, while tours of the hospital inside featured live demonstrations of dental cleaning and even a chance to watch a veterinarian perform surgery.

For hospital partner Richard Hobart, the event was a success even with the rain.

"The weather's not cooperating," he says, "but I'm happy with the turnout. It gives people a chance to get to know us better."

One of the services being offered during the open house was microchip implanting, where a chip roughly the size of a grain of rice is implanted under the skin of a pet containing identification information to be used if the pet ever gets lost.

Hobard says that it's a service more people should take advantage of.

"We don't get enough people asking about it," he says. "We encourage clients to get their pets microchips, it's the last line of defence if that pet gets lost. Every shelter in Ontario is supposed to scan pets for microchips, and a lot of the microchip companies will give pet owners a tag with a 1-800 number on it so that when someone finds a pet, and hopefully get in direct contact with the pet owners without having to even notify an animal control officer."

He also points out that animals who have the microchip often spend far less time in a shelter if they are found, because the owners can be contacted almost immediately and sometimes the pets are back home within hours.

ryan.paulsen@sunmedia.ca

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