Monica Lyn Silvers, a local veterinarian who operated a mobile vet clinic called Creature Comforts Affordable Pet Care, died Feb. 26. She was 60.
Silver’s husband, Clyde Garner, said Silver’s passing came as a shock to Taos County’s small, tight-knit animal care community. A post on the Creature Comforts Affordable Pet Care Facebook page said Silvers died “after a sudden battle with health problems.”
“By the time we got a [cancer] diagnosis, it was very far advanced,” Garner said.
One year ago, Silvers posted on Facebook, “In December 2023 I began the process to form a nonprofit to bring affordable pet care to my community. I will have a mobile medical clinic and will provide wellness care, vaccines, surgery, dentistry and some limited emergency care as well. There is a real crisis happening with accessibility to veterinary care in this country, and nowhere is it more evident than in small rural communities.”
A practicing veterinarian for over 25 years, including as medical director for Stray Hearts Animal Shelter, Silvers planned to take her mobile clinic on the road this year with Kat Laake as a veterinary assistant and client coordinator, and Garner as transportation director. The group formed the nonprofit during a particularly troubled time for Taos’ stray animal population, when contracts between Stray Hearts Animal Shelter, the Town of Taos and Taos County weren’t renewed.
Laake, who met Silvers at Stray Hearts, said, “She’s definitely the best vet that I’ve ever worked under, the most passionate and caring. She would take the time to explain to us or answer any questions we had, which is not super common in animal medicine. She inspired so many people, including me, to continue to pursue animal medicine.”
Garner said when Silvers was in the hospital, “So many people that had worked with her showed up, and it was amazing to hear all of them comment on what a major influence she had been in their lives and the way that she approached her work and the way that she felt about what she was doing. It really rubbed off on all these folks.”
Jen Havens of Taos Hound Underground wrote on Facebook, “We are just gutted by the loss of a very dear friend, Dr. Monica Silvers. We were so looking forward to supporting her low-cost mobile vet practice and truly enjoyed every moment we had the pleasure of spending with her. Another huge loss for the Taos community and every person and animal in her life.”
The sentiment was echoed by Yamuna Devi with Taos Shelter Me, which collects supplies that people and their animal companions need to survive difficult situations, like homelessness. “I was so looking forward to working with Monica and [husband] Clyde in serving the veterans and unhoused folks with pets,” Devi wrote. “Not only did we lose a kind and compassionate veterinarian, but a beautiful, strong woman with a big heart.”
Referring to her goal to provide free services to veterans, elders, and “those experiencing homelessness,” Silvers told the Taos News, “Clyde and I attended a veterans’ services meeting in Carson, at which one veteran shared his suicidal thoughts with the group. He said the only thing that kept him alive and going was his cat, who he had to take care of. We understand that pets keep us emotionally and physically healthy. That’s why helping vulnerable populations keep their pets healthy is so important to us.”
Garner said he hopes to keep his late wife’s dream of a mobile vet clinic for Northern New Mexico alive but is still sorting out the details.
“I would like to find some way to continue with Creature Comforts and move ahead with the vision that she had for it,” he said. “Monica’s main focus was animal well-being. That’s really the driving force behind everything that she did. She was doing what she loved.”
Garner suggested donations be made in Silvers’ honor to the “animal welfare program of their choice.” Referring to groups like Spay Taos!, Taos Hound Underground, Taos Pet Connection, and others, Garner said, “I think that all of those are worthy for people to give money to.”
Dena Miller contributed to this report.
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