Dog healthcare took a battering from Melissa
MoBay’s Bryan’s Veterinary Clinic seeing 50 per cent decline in business
Published:Monday | December 1, 2025 | 12:05 AMAdrian Frater/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Veterinary surgeon Dr Stephen Bryan said, when he established Bryan’s Veterinary Clinic on Coke Avenue in Brandon Hill, Montego Bay, a decade and a half ago, it was not only about caring for dogs and cats – his primary area of specialisation – but also about having a great relationship with customers.
That bond was broken on October 28, when the catastrophic Hurricane Melissa struck western Jamaica, causing not only physical damage but it left him without the capacity to communicate with customers.
“We got some property damage, [but] not much building damage. The office was alright, despite the property damage,” said Bryan, who was at the location with two staff members when The Gleaner visited last Thursday.
“The wireless is down, the phone lines are down, and my card machine is down. So that has taken a toll on the business,” he said, noting a 50 per cent decline in business.
According to Bryan, before he crossed paths with Melissa, his business was doing great. In addition to doing medical procedures on the dogs and cats, the clinic also serves as a supplier of premium dog food and products to kill fleas, ticks and screwworm. It also provides pet cages, dog collars and leashes, as well as animal vitamins and care products like shampoos.
“A lot of people do business by cards and, since the storm, when they come here wanting to purchase something and they find out that the card machine is down, sometimes they leave without making a purchase and that hurts the business a whole lot,” said Bryan. “One of our biggest problems now surrounds communication.”
Gut feeling
Unlike some business operators in western Jamaica who got caught off guard by Melissa, Bryan, who was closely monitoring the bulletins as the hurricane approached island, side he had the gut feeling that it would not be normal, so he had asked customers to pick up their animals from the clinic.
“I made sure that we did not have any animals boarding here at the time,” said Bryan. “Under normal circumstances, we would have had a few animals here, but, leading up to the hurricane, we asked those persons who had animals here to come and get them.”
The Jamaica Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals also evacuated its animals from its Westgreen base in the Second City, ahead of the storm. The Westgreen area later experienced serious flooding, with water up to 12 feet high in some areas, as Melissa lashed Montego Bay.
When The Gleaner visited the facility on Friday, it had not yet reopened.
“I am tearing my hair out because I don’t know how viable our facility will be there,” JSPCA Managing Director Pamela Lawson told The Gleaner last week. “We have cleaned up but there is no light. So, how do you keep your drugs cool? It is very difficult and, therefore, not functional.”
On the cost of repair, Lawson said: “I haven’t put a figure to it. If we were to try and think about it, we would have to look at what options are available to us, because one has to be prepared for future situations. There is a lot to consider, so there is assessment to make.”
Lawson, however, noted that displaced animals remain a major concern. “There were displaced animals in the entire region, but, definitely in Montego Bay, we would get pictures and messages of the grave effects of Hurricane Melissa on the animals. We have been doing weekly clinics in different communities like Hanover, Westmoreland, St James, and we see the needs,” she said.
In addition to monitoring the weather forecast as Melissa approached Jamaica, Bryan said the agitated behaviour of his own dogs in the hours leading to the hurricane making landfall, further convinced him that Melissa would be dangerous.
“My dogs at home, you could see them acting funny a little bit before the hurricane. They wanted to hide in the garage,” said Bryan. “They know that something was coming.”
He told The Gleaner that, in the month since the passage of the hurricane, he and his staff have been quite busy working to make sure the clinic is ready for business.
“Right now, we have solar power, so we have electricity, and water is also back, but, until the telephone service is back, I would say we are fully ready” said the veterinarian.
Animal care might not be priority
He is worried that, with many people busily trying to put their lives back together, the care of animals might not be seen as priority.
The economy is down and, when the economy is down, the vet business does not do well,” he said. “A lot of people are stressed out right now and they have other expenses, so you know those expenses come first. They have to take care of food and those necessities before they can bring the dogs to the vet.”
He is doubtful that things will get back to normal in Jamaica before the middle of next year.
“I don’t believe business will rebound before around June next year, when everybody gets back light and water and other things. Another thing, a place like Montego Bay is a tourist capital and a lot of hotel workers and [transport operators] are not making the money that they used to,” he said. “A lot of tourism workers support my business, so, the truth is, the whole economy of western Jamaica took a hit from the hurricane.
“People are now seeing a lot of new expenses at this time, some have had to be buying gas for their generators, they have to be repairing roofs, they have to address those expenses before they can start taking their dogs back to the vet,” said Bryan, who lost his solar panels at home and suffered minor roof damage. “My greatest hope at this time is to see the economy in western Jamaica recover quickly.”