June 2025
June Blog
Vets Suffer Too
Adult dogs should see their vet once a year for check-ups to identify any signs of illness, dental issues, changes in weight or their behaviour. It is important to catch any health problems early to ensure our pets remain happy and healthy.
A total of 3.2m households in the UK have acquired a pet since the start of the pandemic, and veterinary practices have never been busier – or experienced so much stress. Poor mental health is a long-term issue within the veterinary community, with vets often suffering mental, physical and emotional toll. Did you know that vets have a suicide rate four times higher than the national average and twice as high as other healthcare professionals do? There are many complex factors - not just due to the deep distress of putting animals to sleep.
Difficult Decisions
It is common for practising vets to suffer burnout and depression. Long working hours with increasing caseloads are adding to the pressures. Big corporate companies now own many veterinary practices and vets feel under pressure to offer expensive treatments and charge for every little thing. Gone are the days where veterinary surgeons worked in a practice, then end up a partner in their own independent practice. These huge corporations now own about 60% of all veterinary practices, so costs have risen dramatically over the last couple of years. Sadly, many pet owners are forced to delay or worse, reject treatment due to the high cost.
Vets are seeing more pets being euthanised who have the chance to recover purely because the owners cannot afford to pay for their treatment. Sometimes vets ask owners to sign their pet over to them so they can give the treatment and pay for it themselves, even though they are strongly advised not to do so. They would rather do that and give the pet to a rescue for rehoming. What a terrible dilemma for the vets. Helping animals is what vets are passionate about and spend all those years training for. It’s not just a job, it’s a vocation.
Vets see designer dogs brought in by unlicensed dealers who need an emergency C-section due to complications, and owners with pups bought from selling sites who realise that they cannot care for them. People spend thousands of pounds on flat faced breeds who have a higher risk of health problems due to their facial features, only to have them put down because they can no longer afford to pay for treatment.
Due to the rising costs of treatment and staff shortages, veterinary staff have seen a rise in abuse towards them. Receptionists and vet nurses are more at risk, often having to remove clients from the practice due to their abusive behaviour.
Many dogs at the hands of illegal breeders never see a vet in their short lifetime. Their owners are just too busy churning out litter after litter, after all, dental problems, skin infections and painful joints don’t stop the females from breeding do they? These beautiful and intelligent animals deserve better. It is extremely frustrating to see far too many unlicensed breeders selling on websites and Meta platforms making a fortune with little or no thought to the welfare of the animals.
Getting a Dog? – What to Consider
Do you have the time and finances for a dog? Is now the right time?
Make sure the whole family want a dog
Would your other pets welcome a new dog?
Consider offering a home to a rescue dog instead of buying
What size and breed of dog would suit your lifestyle? Would an older dog be better than a puppy?
If you do really want to buy a puppy, buy from a reputable breeder and visit it more than once with its mother in the place where they were born, checking all vaccination paperwork thoroughly
More importantly – don’t’ cage them, give them a job to do and love them deeply!
“Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole” – Roger Caras
