Dogs and cats do not carry COVID-19, but their owners might, and that has changed how veterinary clinics meet clients and do business.

            “We stopped having people bring their animals into the hospital,” said Dr. Willard Gould, who was quarantined in place upon his return from Florida and guiding his veterinary business from home.

            The new protocol at area clinics is for mask-wearing, veterinary technicians to walk out into the parking lot to the cars, where they converse at a safe distance, then retrieve the pet from its owner, then walk or carry it into the office.

            Case history is taken over the phone ahead of time. Once the pet comes in, clients wait in their vehicles as if it were a 1950s burger joint and dinner was about to be delivered on roller skates and hooked to their driver-side door. Instead, the cell phone rings and it’s a doctor sharing the results of an examination discussing options. Eventually, the tech brings back the pet and any prescriptions.

            Some clinics are replacing leashes with their own before walking dogs into their clinics, as recommended by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).

            Most primary care vets are trying to do what they can at this time for their clients because of higher costs and a lack of relationship. Every clinic still open is doing things its own way, and trying to make do given its own unique circumstances.

            Some clinics are not accepting anyone but established clients. Mattapoisett Animal Hospital is among those that are, but not providing all regular services.

            “We’ve canceled elective things that are not emergencies. ‘Let’s see your five-year-old dog who is well and is vaccinated every year and is due for an examination.’ We’re putting that off,” said Gould, the founder at Mattapoisett.

            The reason is simple and pragmatic: lack of equipment.

            “Dogs and cats that are young and ready to be spayed or neutered – we’ve had to put that off because… we’re not going to be able to buy any new gloves,” he said. “Things like tumors, exploratory surgery, animals with higher priority… If your dog gets sick and dies because we didn’t have any gloves.”

            And there is no realistic chance of getting more gloves anytime soon.

            “Who knows when this is going to end? This is probably going to be a problem for anywhere from three to 18 months,” said Gould. “When it comes down to who’s going to get surgery masks first, us or Mass General, it’s not even a question. The main thing is we don’t want to get anyone sick.”

            To that end, Gould has cut his staff to eliminate those in vulnerable categories age-wise or with preexisting conditions. One of his vet techs is 74 years old and Gould is 71.

            “Two of the people have autoimmune diseases,” he explained. “One has chronic Lyme (disease); a good day is fighting everything. Another one has an immuno-suppressed child so if she went to work and brought something home…”

            Younger, healthier staff members are working overtime, and Gould wonders if that stress makes them vulnerable.

            When lifting a large dog onto a medical table or drawing its blood, social distancing (standing six feet apart) becomes impossible.

            One Cape-side clinic divided its staff into two teams that work all of its shifts together. That way, if a staff member is sick and tests positive for coronavirus, it hopefully limits the potential for infection to that side of the staff.

            It’s become a game of coping and surviving until everyone can get back to thriving.

            “I think it’s important for people to know that we’re all in this thing together,” said Gould. “You’re not getting rich; people aren’t calling your name. You just do what you do because you love it.”

By Mick Colageo

            The irony of Steve Methia’s retirement is, while the world is coming to a standstill, he’s gotten busier, and while the rest of the world is trying not to socialize, he has a steady stream of visitors at his Mattapoisett door.

            The pickups and deliveries won’t stop anytime soon.

            Locally known on Facebook and other social media platforms for his custom work with motorcycles, Methia has repurposed his hobby shop to produce face shields for medical and other essential personnel, and for those who cannot avoid facing the public during their day.

            The irony is not lost on Methia, who will turn 66 this month.

            “Normally, I’m a hermit,” he laughed. “Everything’s been on hold because I’ve been doing this for a week and a half.”

            By Monday, he had made approximately 80 face shields that his girlfriend, Mary Ellen Silva, helps deliver where needed.

            A retired mechanic who worked 42 years for Verizon out of the company’s Taunton location, Methia was already spending the majority of free time in his basement, albeit on other, less-urgent projects like Ducati motorcycles and furniture repairs and restorations.

            A self-described “tinkerer” and “dumpster diver,” Methia had decided five years ago that retirement from Verizon was his ticket not to sit back, but to do the things he really wanted to do when he didn’t have the time.

            “I have two goals every day – one is to learn something and one is to make something,” he said, admitting regret over the math and science he didn’t pay enough attention to in high school. “Now I can’t get enough of it. The machine shop has taken over my craziness.”

            Methia’s “craziness” makes nothing but sense to desperate, frontline workers dealing without adequate protection. His 3D printer was admittedly more of a science project until COVID-19 prompted his new hobby.

            “I’m not an engineer,” said Methia, whose lathe and milling machine that help him build motorcycle parts now function as his research-and-development department for tweaks to the face-shields being produced by the two 3D printers in his home office.

            The second printer belongs to the Old Rochester Regional Junior High School. It wasn’t working properly when Methia began soliciting donations to help him with the face-shield project, but thanks to his day-long effort to fix it, there are now two printers working side by side, each producing a face-shield every few hours.

            The community has also noticed.

            ORR Junior High also donated filament, the spools of synthetic material for the 3D printer, and John Coucci of Guido’s Glass in New Bedford donated the clear plastic for the shields.

            Methia performs laser cuts himself on equipment owned by custom engraver FME Technologies based in Mattapoisett. He waits until night to use FME’s machine due to resulting fumes.

            One of his neighbors is a seamstress, and those who are making cloth facemasks have given Methia the stretch material he uses to fashion the elastic straps for his face shields.

            “A lot of this stuff is (typically available) on Amazon, but they’re shutting that all down because they’re only giving it to essential (medical industries),” he said. “It’s been difficult finding the supplies. I had some filament in stock, but I used it up really quick.”

            Old Hammondtown School also donated some filament, and Methia said he is trying to make contact with Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School.

            “The more printers I have, I can make more product,” he said.

            The design, procured online, is derived from 3D printer company Prusa, based in the Czech Republic. The company is open source, which means copycats are welcome to adopt Prusa’s technology and reproduce it themselves without copyright infringement.

            The absence of such a legal hurdle is music to the ears of everyone affected, however indirectly, by the coronavirus pandemic.

            Methia has made his own modifications using computer-aided design (CAD) programming. “I’m constantly making changes, depending on what straps I have,” he said. “I spend all day and all night, between changing the filaments and changing the programs. When it’s done, I make a new one.

            “I’m going around and getting supplies. I’ve been doing it 24/7. Everyone else is bored, they’ve got nothing to do,” he said of his new mission. “It doesn’t bother me when I don’t leave the house. I can do everything I need to do right from the house. And I’ve had so much support.”

            Methia looks forward to giving back ORR Junior High a perfectly working 3D printer that students there can use as part of a normal life that these last few weeks has become elusive and precious. He won’t take money, only requests, and the donations to help him fulfill those requests.

            “I’m a big believer that, if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem,” he said.

            This is the first in a series of stories that will highlight some of the special efforts local people are making to help their communities in a time of crisis. If you know a “hometown hero” in the Tri-Town that you want to tell us about, tell us about that person in an email, sending it with your name and phone number to news@wanderer.com.

Nestled deep in tissue paper inside a box inside a cedar closet in the dark recesses of our basement is a Teddy Bear my son received as an infant. It was much loved and wears the stains and patches that denote its years of service to a little boy who often needed Teddy to help him get through sickness. No doubt in his imagination Teddy had much to say. I think it’s time to let Teddy do his job again – making small children smile.

            There is a movement wending its way through Facebook to place Teddy Bears in windows for children to find. Call it a playful bear hunt where all that is collected are smiles and all that is heard is, “I found one – look, look!”

            Recently I joined in the fun. I placed two Teddy Bears in my front window. These bears were purchased as remembrances of a trip we took to Niagara Falls with my son and his daughter about 11 years ago. My granddaughter has moved on from wanting to play with a toy bear. I have not. Those bears have been with me ever since. Now they grace the front windows waiting for little children to find them.

            It seems the activity began in Belgium and was picked up by Danish families where it is enjoying a great deal of exposure and giving kids something fun to do. More recently, a local Facebook group started Teddy Bear hunting. We want to jump in and add to the game, so get out those Teddy Bears and let’s have some fun!

            Starting April 2, The Wanderer is asking its readers to take pictures of the bears they find and share those pictures with the Tri-Town community. All we need to make this game really super-duper is lots of Teddy Bears in lots of windows throughout the Tri-Town. 

            To add to the fun, the April 9 issue The Wanderer will publish photos you take of the Teddy Bears you’ve tracked down. Please make sure to include your name and the town where the Teddy Bear was spotted. That’s it. Let’s see how many Teddy Bears our Tri-Town community can press into new service and how many pictures you can take and share.

            Feeling a little self-conscious because you don’t want anyone to know you collect Teddy Bears? Pish-tosh! Grown-ups can play, too. What better time than now to add a bit of humor, a bit of adventure, a bit of the carefree to our lives. Let those Teddy Bears out.

            Send your Teddy Bear pictures to news@wanderer.com or post them on our Facebook page!

By Marilou Newell