For decades, the veterinarians at what is now Prairie Animal Health Centre have been looking after the animals of Weyburn and the surrounding countryside. On October 6, 2026, from 1:00 to 6:30 p.m., the clinic throws open the doors of its brand-new building at 327 5th Street West and invites the whole community in for an afternoon that is part open house, part county fair, and entirely free.
The day is built around the building itself. Facility tours run from 1 to 3 p.m., giving visitors a look at a hospital that is a long way from the practice's humble beginnings. The clinic's own history, laid out on its website, reads like a small-town success story: the first veterinarian, Dr. Pulfer, started practicing in Weyburn in 1984 at the original location. The practice was sold to Dr. Hoium in 1989, and the current owners took over in 2005. In 2025 they built a brand-new 10,000-square-foot hospital and moved in on December 17 of that year.
That new building is the reason for the celebration. It is a striking upgrade from the three-exam-room clinic the team worked in for years. The new facility has eight exam rooms, including feline-only rooms with tables that have built-in hideaway spaces to make visits less stressful for cats. There are two surgical suites, a dedicated dental treatment area, a radiology suite with digital imaging and ultrasound, an in-house lab that returns blood work in minutes rather than days, and separate in-patient wards for dogs and cats, the feline ward fitted with pheromone diffusers and its own ventilation. A separate large-animal facility with a cattle handling chute handles cow-calf and equine work. As the clinic puts it, the building was designed for the work the team actually does.
The people behind it are a mix of longtime local hands and veterinarians with wider experience. Dr. Carol Ross, whose clinical focus is surgery and who leads the practice's dentistry program, owns the clinic alongside Dr. Jeremy Ross and Dr. Greg Douglas. Dr. Douglas trained at the Animal Medical Center in New York and worked critical care in Hawaii before settling into rural mixed-animal practice. The team also includes Dr. Andrea Clarke, who works with working dogs, Dr. Jena Thue, who covers equine and cow-calf production work and exotic-animal cases, and Karly, who brings acupuncture and herbal medicine to the practice. The clinic serves clients from across southern Saskatchewan, including Regina, and is actively booking new clients.
But the open house is not just a chance to admire the architecture. From 2 to 4:30 p.m., the clinic runs a Teddy Bear Hospital, a staple of veterinary outreach in which children bring their stuffed animals in for a check-up. It is a gentle way to demystify the vet's office for the youngest visitors, and it tends to be the highlight of the afternoon for families. From 4 to 5:30 p.m., the ponies arrive for Pics with a Pony, giving kids a chance to pose with a real animal rather than a plush one.
All afternoon there is a community barbecue, and a fundraising bake sale will raise money for the Weyburn Humane Society. That partnership is a natural one. The humane society has existed since the early 1990s, when a group of concerned citizens came together to establish a system to properly care for stray animals in the city, building a small shelter with volunteer help and donations. It is a registered charity that receives no provincial or federal funding and depends entirely on public support. The society has long outgrown its original building and has been working toward a new shelter at 1810 East Avenue, with separate buildings for cats and for dogs, funded by community donations and events like this one. Its mission is simple and familiar to anyone who has ever taken in a stray: shelter and care for homeless pets until they can be reunited with their owners or adopted into new homes.
Put together, the afternoon is a rare thing in a small city: a free, walk-in event that works for toddlers, teenagers, and grandparents alike, with animals at the center of it. You can tour a surgical suite, get a stuffed bear's heartbeat checked, eat a burger, buy a cookie for a good cause, and have your picture taken with a pony, all before supper.
The clinic is at 327 5th Street West in Weyburn. For more information, the clinic can be reached at (306) 910-7242 or [email protected]. Tours run 1 to 3 p.m., the Teddy Bear Hospital 2 to 4:30 p.m., and Pics with a Pony 4 to 5:30 p.m.