NPR.

This is the Anticator from Planet Money. I'm Darian Woods and I've got a very special guest

here, Nate Hegey, the host of Environmental Podcast outside in. Welcome to the show.

Hey, thanks for having me.

So you've been spending a lot of time lately in Alaska's capital city of Juneau.

Yes, my wife actually just moved there for a nine-month internship and it is an

epic place. Like, think old Victorian homes and cool breweries, but then surrounded

by giant waterfalls, towering green cliffs and tens of thousands of acres of wilderness.

Okay, so the sounds like paradise, but there's got to be a downside. Like what's the downside?

Two words, dangerous animals. Okay, specifically bears and porcupines.

Right. Porcupines are actually more dangerous than you might think. They are. And a cute little

dog named Kipper. He learned that the hard way. Here's his best buddy, Barbara Berg.

Normally he's pretty good off leash. So they were out fish creek and he found a porcupine

and he's a terrier. He's a caretaker. So he was charged right in there and came back with

a mouth full of quills and a pretty common head injury up there. Also pretty common these

days. Barbara couldn't find a veterinarian to pull those quills out.

Right. Because Juno has lost half of its vats over the past couple of years. It can take

weeks to get an appointment, surgery is scarce and there is no 24-7 emergency care.

And this isn't just an Alaska problem. I mean across the country, we are seeing a growing

shortage of veterinary care. And it's not just like pandemic puppies or kittens as some

people think. It's something that is trending across the US. A search for work life balance.

So to down the show we're going to look at who wins and who loses when veterinarians take

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