World Veterinary Day is celebrated every year on the last Saturday of April, so I am technically a day early with this. This day was created in 2000 by the World Veterinary Association to highlight and promote the work performed by veterinarians around the globe. Every year, the day is focused around a set theme and this year the theme is inclusivity. Well to be exact the theme is actually ‘Promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusiveness in the Veterinary Profession’. You can read more about it here. They also run an award every year that is handed to a veterinary practice, organisation or individual that has been voted for by members of the public and the organisation for their hard work within the veterinary industry.
Issues affecting the veterinary industry
One of the biggest issues affecting the veterinary industry is, somewhat unsurprisingly, is wellbeing. Studies show that veterinarians have the highest risk of suicide – female vets are 2.4 times more likely to commit suicide compared to the average person, whereas male vets are 1.6 more likely to do so. This is obviously due to the very emotional and emotionally draining impact of the job. Most vets become vets because they love animals and love working with them, but the day-to-day tasks of the job mean that they only deal with animals whoa re sick, injured, abused or close to death. And with all mental health there is a severe lack of support offered to them.
There is also the fact that many vets claim to not be paid enough, especially when you think about how demanding and taxing the job is every single day. While it seems that once you are a qualified vet and you have a number of years behind you, the salary can be anywhere from £40,000 to £70,000. But the issue is more for those vets still in training. Even upon qualifying vets tend to start at about £30,000, but training to become a vet can take years. An undergraduate degree can range from 4-6 years depending on where you study and even these are highly competitive and one of the most academically challenging courses available. Most universities require at least AAA at A Level – and for comparison I only needed ABB to study Law at a university in Central London. There are apprenticeships available but again these are still highly competitive and can still take close to 10 years to complete.
So after all of that training and all of the hard work studying, the job has very low satisfaction and very low wellbeing in place. There is currently a shortage of vets across all of the UK, with vets needed to help care for exotic animals, farm animals and the standard companion animals.
Ways to celebrate World Vet Day
One of the main ways you can celebrate World Vet Day is to celebrate your own vet. One way to do this is to leave a positive review of the practice (or the vet themselves) on Google, Trust Pilot or other review boards local to your area. Vets do tend to get a bad rap at times and a positive review will help them reach new patients, which in turn means that more animal will get the help and the support they need to live long and healthy lives.
You can also double check that all of your own pets have their vet record up to date. Are their vaccinations all up to date? Do you need a top up of any medications? Do you have all of their emergency supplies on hand? For example, I have a tin at home that is Lola’s emergency tin. It contains a number of different sizes of syringes and includes two packets of Critical Care, a specialist powder that when mixed with water can be hand fed to rabbits who are going through GI Stasis. I would always recommend to have something like this on hand. Plus my vets were more than happy to advise on what we needed and every time we go (thankfully at the moment with Lola we only go once a year for her yearly vaccinations) they will offer us new syringes and ask if we need a top up of anything for our emergency tin.
Some vet practices do run special events on World Vet Day so get in touch with your vet practice to see if they have arranged anything. This could involve anything from a small party at the practice, to a full open day of the whole practice so you can see what equipment they use and understand more about what goes into keeping your pets healthy and happy. It might also be a nice opportunity to be able to speak with your vet on a more personal level and find out more about what they are like a person away from their job.
You can also celebrate with your pet. Give them some extra cuddles and give your thanks to your vet for allowing your pet to be with you for another year. Take your dog for a longer walk than usual, give your cat just a bit more catnip and give your rabbit that little bit of extra banana. Take a day to just enjoy your pet and the joy that they bring to your life, and say a little thank you to the vets that ensure your pet continues to be as healthy and as happy as possible so you can enjoy even more days like this.
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