1946 – 2026 Watching Steinbach Grow: Full house at Friedensfeld salutes Steinbach’s first vet

Four hundred people attended a special banquet in 1988 to honour the area’s first veterinarian, who retired after 31 years of continuous practice.

Speaker after speaker described the many contributions Dr. Steve Sonya made to the agricultural industry in the Southeast, both in private practice and as a driving force behind establishment of the South East Veterinary Clinic in 1973.

Sonya and wife Hilja received presentations from representatives of the hog, dairy and beef producers, as well as a spokesman for several pharmaceutical firms. He was also awarded The Carillon community service plaque by publisher Eugene Derksen, a longtime friend.

Dr. Jack McPhedran, director of the province’s veterinary services branch, said Sonya established Manitoba’s finest clinic at the lowest cost, 15 years ago, when half a dozen clinics were built using abandoned air force buildings. Clinics were established at Vita and St Pierre the same year.

McPhedran noted the clinic grew from a lone veterinarian to six over the years, a reflection of the booming livestock industry in southeastern Manitoba.

He said the clinic, in its first 15 years, treated 2.5 million animals and contributed millions of dollars to the agriculture economy in terms of animals saved.

Fellow veterinarian, Dr. Mike Sheridan, told the retirement dinner that Sonya had acted as an inspiration to him and his colleagues by his devotion to his work and his boundless energy.

Two weeks before he arrived, The Carillon News, presented the welcome news that farmers in the southeast area would soon have their own fully qualified veterinarian.

Sonya, who had practised under Dr. Robson at Selkirk for three years, decided to open his own practise in Steinbach.

Sonya had arrived in Canada in 1951 from Hungary, where he had obtained his degree as a veterinarian. In Canada he wrote his examinations at the Guelph Veterinary College, but on coming to Manitoba he had to write exams again to qualify for a position here.

After working in Selkirk for three years, Sonya opened his own practise in Steinbach with an office in the Steinbach Credit Union building, March 1, 1956.

It didn’t take long for Sonya to establish a busy practice and area dairymen were lavish in their praise when interviewed for a Carillon News agriculture issue.

All the dairymen questioned had a good word to say for Sonya. In an industry where the services of a good vet are absolutely indispensable, dairymen felt Sonya deserved a big pat on the back for the speed and efficiency of service he had been providing for the past five years.

R.B. Krentz of Steinbach said for service you couldn’t find a better man. He was always ready to come at any hour of the day or night and was very fast in dealing with the problem.

“When he steps out of the car he’s ready to work and once finished is ready to move on to the next call.”

Reinhard Dueck at Kleefeld said there were many compliments he could pay to Sonya and people all over the district felt the same way.

“I know a lot of dairymen in the Selkirk area and they all were sorry when he left.”

Herb Peters of Chortitz said the more cows you have, the more you push them, and the more you need the services of a good vet.

“Dr. Sonya is good at his job, is willing to come at any time day of night, and his fees are reasonable.”

In a Question-and-Answer session Sonya touched on a number of topics ranging from his experience with a couple of dangerous bulls, the difficult foaling for a mare, to working a 20-hour day when he had to deal with 14 calls in a 24 hour period.

And it was the heavy workload of the veterinarians that was one of the reasons Sonya became the driving force for the establishment of more veterinary clinics in the Southeast.

On call 24 hours a day, the rural veterinarian is constantly harried. He is expected to make house calls, sometimes 80 miles away, and is constantly roused out of sleep to attend to emergencies, and called up without regard to weekends or holidays.

But that is the name of the game as far as a rural veterinary practice is concerned, and uncomplaining, Sonya sees it as such.

Sonya was Steinbach’s only permanent vet for over 15 years, though there had been temporary assistants and summer replacements, on occasion. The reason there was only one vet, Sonya says, was that his office at his residence on Reimer Ave. didn’t have room for a second one.

But that changed when Manitoba Agriculture Minister Sam Uskiw cut the ribbon on a brand new, spacious veterinary clinic just east of Steinbach, in October of 1972.

Over the next decade, Sonya was joined by Dr. Laurence Friesen, Dr. Ron Hamilton and Sheridan, and in 1983 the four veterinarians formed a partnership.

Sonya had certainly been right in his prediction that a veterinary clinic would attract more veterinarians to practice in rural Manitoba.