The president of the local veterinary association is speaking out about mental health and the stress faced in the profession following a recent case on the province’s west coast.

The College of Veterinarians is conducting an investigation into the actions of an area vet surrounding a dog that died due to an apparent lack of veterinary care. The incident resulted in an uproar on social media, prompting the president of the NL Veterinary Medical Association to speak out.

This afternoon I spent 40 minutes speaking with a fellow veterinary professional who couldn't stop crying because of the horrible things being said about her work place online that are based on half truths and full lies.

— Maggie BB (@dottiemaggie) October 2, 2020

Dr. Maggie Brown-Bury says while she’s limited in what she can say because of the ongoing investigation, she does say that suicide rates among vets are high. She believes no one gets into veterinary medicine if they don’t love animals, and hearing negative commentary in a compassionate profession “wears you down.”

Brown-Bury fears the reality of veterinary medicine, including being on-call, may prevent new practitioners from entering the field, often in the very places where they’re needed the most. She says on-call is not a sustainable lifestyle for many people and “that’s okay,” but it could prevent new recruits from taking on veterinary practice especially in rural areas.