SASKATOON – With the precision of a surgeon, Dr. Chris Belan slides fine needles into his patient’s body.
Using acupuncture to relieve pain is an age-old practice. It’s been around since ancient times in China. But what’s surprising here is that Belan is a veterinarian and his patients are animals.
Belan began using acupuncture in his veterinary practice four years ago. He was working with race horses at Queensbury Downs racetrack in Regina when he heard that many high performance animals were treated with acupuncture in the United States.
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“Society in general is more holistically oriented these days,” said Belan, who has been practising in Balzac, Alta., near Calgary.
Belan carries out four or five acupuncture treatments per week and makes about one quarter of his income from the treatments.
But he said he always gives the clients a choice between acupuncture and traditional Western medicine.
One of Belan’s clients is Western Breeders Service in Balzac. They’ve been using laser acupuncture on their bulls for three years, said Sid Kent.
With laser acu-puncture, Belan uses a small portable laser to stimulate the right points instead of needles. He said both methods work about the same. The laser is better for animals that don’t like needles or are going to need long-term treatment because the animals can’t feel it, said Belan, but it takes longer.
They first tried it on a few bulls, he said, “and it worked so we continued.”
According to Belan, acupuncture increased the sperm output of bulls with chronic back problems by up to $1,000 per week.
Kent said the actual increase in productivity “depends on the individual and the severity of the injury,” but acupuncture is “another tool we can use.”
Belan hopes acupuncture is a tool a lot more veterinarians take up in the future.
Currently, six veterinarians in Western Canada, three in Alberta, two in British Columbia and one in Manitoba, use acupuncture.
Growing interest
Colleen MacDougall, of the Alberta Veterinary Medical Association, said her group will have a speaker on the subject at their annual convention in January.
It’s something of interest to association members and the public, she said.
Belan said because the only training for veterinary acupuncture is in the United States, the distance and cost is prohibitive for many Canadian veterinarians.
There are currently 11 veterinarians certified by the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society in Western Canada.
