This is a PodTalk independent production created in conjunction with the Meta and Walkley Foundation Public Interest Journalism Fund. Before we get started, this podcast includes conversations about suicide and mental health. So please take care when listening.
When I started investigating the vet crisis, the question I wanted to answer seems straightforward. What was pushing veterinarians to leave a career they dreamt off all their lives, or worse become so mentally unwell, that they were crippled by it and could no longer cope? But the further I went down the rabbit hole, and the more people I spoke to, the more apparent it became that the reasons are complex, layered, and many. So it makes sense that the solutions will be to.
help Hello, Kristen speaking.
Hi, Kristin. It's Caroline Winter from PodTalk. How are you going?
Oh, hello, I'm well, thank you. How are you? Yeah,
I'm good. Thank you. Look, I just wanted to quickly touch base. Say hello, just check that you're all good for later today.
Yeah, fa, fantastic. Yes, I certainly am. Four o'clock. I think we're meeting with that group.
That's Dr. Kristen Steele. She's a vet. And for many years, her work has revolved around looking after animals. But now she's all about looking after other vets, her people,
This is my purpose. This is why I'm here. I'm convinced of it. Because all the ducks have lined up with my experience. And, you know, good and bad. And now it's sort of placed me in this position where I've got this extreme opportunity to look after my people. And it's not just my story. It's the story of every bit out there. And this has touch points on every Australian. Like you know it really will, if we don't get this right. It will affect everybody's lives. And so it's a privilege to talk to you about this, and I really appreciate it.
Well, the feeling's mutual. I'm really looking forward to meeting you finally.
Thank you. Thanks a lot. All right.
See you then.
Okay, bye.
This has been an emotional, enlightening and challenging journey for me to get to this point. I've travelled across the country recorded countless hours of interviews, and spoken to literally dozens and dozens of people inside and outside the vet profession. I've been welcomed into the lives of people some in their most vulnerable moments. I've cried and laughed. And I've been shocked and saddened. But for much of the time, I've been genuinely amazed at what vets and vet nurses humans, like you and me, are actually capable of, especially when they're up against it. Despite being stressed and mentally unwell because of the long hours shortage of staff the low pay unrealistic expectations and client abuse, they just get on with it. But when it gets to breaking point, they fall hard. There's no one magic bullet to fix the vet crisis or fix it all at once. But there are solutions. Some have already emerged throughout the series. Like for new vets, the need for wellness programmes during vet school and transition support to the workplace so that vet grads don't fall through the cracks before they've even had a chance to succeed. Debt Forgiveness and other incentives is another one to help attract them to rural and regional areas where the shortage is most acute. Then there's in the clinic, changes to the workplace culture where there's more flexibility and better hours, fair pay and mentoring to keep staff healthy and in the job. And realistic console times where vets can build relationships and trust with pet owners who then feel heard and valued, especially when it's time for tricky conversations. Then for the non pet animals, government funding for animal doctors caring for wildlife, whether that be during natural disasters, or for dedicated wildlife hospitals, or for the wildlife that you and I drop off at the nearest vet when we find them, and a greater focus on upskilling and bolstering the vets who need to keep an eye on our livestock. God forbid a biosecurity risk becomes a reality. And finally, for us, we need to understand the pressure vets are under we need to remember that care costs money and to be responsible pet owners and to seek out options like pet insurance or vet payment plans or pet crisis organisations. If things become financially or emotionally tricky, and it's also on you and me as good citizens. To understand why all this matters to every single Australian pet owner, wildlife warrior farmer, meat eater or latte drinker. This is more than just a profession. We need the vet community to survive. Not just for them, but for all of us. Some of these solutions are already underway, some are not. And then there are others waiting in the wings. And it's here I feel they could finally be some of the answers I've been searching for all along
I'm Caroline Winter, a journalist and dog lover, and you're listening to Sick As A Dog, Episode eight Sophie's Legacy. This podcast is shining a light on a crisis that's making the people who care for our animals very sick. It's burning them out, forcing many to leave their jobs. And in some cases, it's killing them. But there is hope. And over this series, I've endeavoured to find answers to some very complex questions that affect all of us and can't be ignored any longer.
As a journalist, I've been to my fair share of conferences over the years, covering everything from agriculture to health care, even to the space race, it was always an hour or two in and out, knock off some interviews and get back to the station to file a story for the nightly news. But for the first time, I was about to be immersed in a conference for an entire week. At the Australian Veterinary Association's annual conference on the Gold Coast, there were more vets and vet nurses than I could point a stick out. And it gave me the perfect chance to speak to as many as I could. So I did. So
Tahli, how long have you been a vet?
This is my eighth year, I get a lot of satisfaction out of being able to help animals and help their owners with problems and yeah, I just generally like working with them. Yeah, did you always want to be there? Yes, I grew up on a farm. And it was just something I decided when I was six.
That's Tahli. She's a locum vet from Adelaide,
There can be day to day challenges with unexpected things coming up. So you can have a full schedule and an emergency comes in or just the workload can get a bit overwhelming. And then if you don't get a break, or you're finishing late, then I find those sorts of things quite stressful. And I don't like that
Tahli's put boundaries in place to help her deal with those challenges. Things like setting the hours she wants to work, making sure she takes a lunch break, and trying hard to finish her client list by the end of the working day. Being a locum she can do that. Not so much for Andrew, who works in a mixed practice in a regional area, who when I spoke with him was the only full time vet at his clinic, and what kind of practice you work in.
So a mixed practice with 40% dairy or 50% dairy and about 40 50% small animal we have a bit of horse sheep goats or chucked in, I don't know where I'll be wherever I'll say where I am or not, because it's pretty hard being the only person really at the clinic other than part timers. So that's a pretty hard thing. But I'd like to stay in it because I do like it, in what capacity I don't know. I guess that's the difficulty is we need more people regionally doing mixed practice jobs. And it's really, really important.
And tell me about the clients. Have you experienced any sort of client abuse?
Not as much at this clinic as my old one. Never got physical where I was. I did have someone yelling, they come and kill me once. But I don't think it was real. It was just them over the phone to their wife and I can just hear it. I was actually doing a freebie for them. One time someone threatened to fight us outside because they were unhappy with the other of the younger vet who was quite small. And yeah, so and they were yelling at her so she was in tears. So I sort of said like, Guys, you can't do this. It's not fair.
Is that one of the harder parts of the job?
Yeah, it is. I think no matter what, wherever you are, well all industries have it but the level of emotions obviously higher often. So and you can do your absolute best and you can still get things slightly wrong or things change and animal that was eating the night before, I had one recently where animal eating the night before as happy as can be, send it home, the client doesn't listen to you. You tell them what they need to do. They don't listen, take it to another vet and find a different problem that probably wasn't there the night before. And then you get a big letter saying that they're going to threaten and sue you and that happens. And that's difficult to deal with because you've sat second guessing yourself.
The frustration of not being trusted or listened to is something I've heard a lot. But really for any of us, especially in your chosen profession. The thing that you are an expert in just imagine being deliberately challenged or passed over for Dr Google frequently. It's disrespectful to say the least. These next two vets wanted to remain anonymous, but say they're frequently on the receiving end of client abuse.
It's normally coming from a financial aspect. So it's an A lot of the time you're getting guilt tripped, that, you know, you are just there for the money, and you're not actually doing anything to help the animal, blah, blah, blah. But it's just a misconception between free human health care, and then the expectation of having to provide your own animal and try and understand that, you know, there's a lot of government subsidies in human health care and not in veterinary health care. Yeah.
And do you have a good team around you to be able to debrief that kind of thing?
Always?
How important is that?
The most important
is the reality, much different to where you thought or what you thought it would be.
I think vet school prepares you for the harsh critique that you get from clients and things like that. And like the pay gaps and things like that, I think we're prepared for that from probably when we first start, and it almost feels discouraging, I think, in uni sometimes to put you away from it. So I think the people that stick it out are often the ones that are, I guess, happy to sacrifice some of those things,
Day to day, what do you really enjoy about what you do?
I just really liked working with dogs and cats. And I do appreciate it when people are really grateful and thankful. I think, sometimes people underestimate saying, thank you or like, I'm really grateful. We often go out in the back and say, Oh my God, that person was so lovely. They said thank you to me. And it seems like that's some big deal, but it's probably just someone being human.
Spending days with these people in various sessions, over lunch and lining up for coffee, I got a real snapshot of vet life. In amongst lectures on equine asthma and topical treatments for wounds. Oh and the gold standard sperm assessment. There were talks on balancing workload and not burning out on workplace sustainability, and wellness and communication in the console room. I spent the weekend all of their talent quite frankly, amazed by the advances in animal medicine, and the sheer breadth of knowledge these people need to have across so many animals.
But as a fly on the wall, hearing their conversations and questions of each other and their industry, I also got a unique look at the challenges they face every day. In dealing with clients in running a business in balancing the private nature of the profession versus the public need they provide and the good they do. Not shied away from telling me what they really thought. And I came away feeling a collective cry for help. Among the many I spent time with is one person who's heard that cry for help for some time, and whose job it is to find some answers.
I'm Kristen Steele. I am Senior Advocacy officer for the Australian Veterinary Association.
Dr. Kristen Steele's story starts like so many other vets that I've met.
I grew up in a veterinary family so my dad was vet. So we lived very much a veterinary family lifestyle of long hours and hard work and and all the privilege that goes with health care, really, I remember when I was a child actually living in the house at the back of the clinic, and my parents used to duck in and out of the clinic. Dad was working there. And then if he needed mom's help, I'm used to duck across and help him and so it was very much a family business, which is how many vet businesses actually are. Then as I grew up, I worked in my school holidays, cleaning out cages and helping to do it and you know, putting it into the toner and the fixer and the water etc, under the red light. And, you know, putting stamps on the vaccination notices that needed to go out to clients with everything. So I grew up in that veterinary household and there was in Melbourne but it was halfway to Ballarat.
Kristen continued in the family business, so to speak, and went on to study to become a vet herself.
I just gravitated I guess towards something that I knew a lot about. And now respect to the job that might my dad did and and it was you know, it's it can be a really wonderful career when it's highly intellectually stimulating, highly emotionally stimulating. It's full of very ethical, emotionally competent, intelligent people to be around so it's, it's a it can be a really, really rewarding career and so I felt very lucky to get a place when I did it at Queensland uni and so I ventured up there and and took my place and put my head down.
After graduating, Kristen spent time at a small animal practice. But her calling was elsewhere, she became acutely aware of the mental toll on vets and the workforce issues in her profession. And so for around a decade, she did pro bono work collecting information about the many issues in the vet industry. That was until she landed what she calls her dream job, Senior Advocacy officer with the Australian Veterinary Association.
I think I might be the luckiest vet in Australia, actually, it's my role in advocacy is I look after vets. So I look after their interests in every way that I can. So I advocate for their well being advocate for their financial interests, also for the welfare, health and welfare of animals, which will affect them in that decision and those decisions. And so, in every way, my role has many touch points on their daily lives. And it's something that's very personal to me. And I'm just very fortunate to be able to now feel that within my job, I can do something, I hope I can do something about this.
What Kristen means by 'this' are the many issues facing her people and her profession. The many issues that we've of course explored over the past seven episodes, from the suicide rate to burnout, critical staff shortages, long hours below par pay safe and supportive workplaces and abuse from clients. And as you may have heard, Kristin Steele mentioned, the work she's doing now is also very personal.
I guess my Dad was born to be a vet, and he owned his clinics and built his business out. But when the recession hit, the vulnerability of veterinary practice, unfortunately, really affected his business. And eventually, after many years of financial insecurity and financial stress, and what became mental ill health in a person who had not had mental illness, he suicided in 2003. So that was, thank you. So it's a long time ago now that from there, I then wondered, you know, was it just business mismanagement? Was it mental ill health? Was it you know, what, what did cause this and how did I miss it? So I, it took me a few years to put it together. And then I began to realise very quickly, that this was not isolated to just me and my family. This was actually quite a widespread problem. And there are many contributing factors. It's very complex. And the solutions will be equally as complex. And so I started looking into it. And fortunately, I now see a real benefit to what I, I do, and I'm thankful for the fact that I'm able to draw this experience and hopefully make good.
The loss of her own father to suicide is behind her desperate drive for change.
I think I truly feel that I'm just I've managed to find my position of purpose. I think sometimes it's very bittersweet. And there, it's not the only thing that's good to hear. But I also, you know, my previous roles that I've had, which were in and outside of clinical practice, as well as the people I've met along the way, as well as my experience as a female working in this area of high requiring career, and also later on as a parent as well in juggling careers. All of that, I think, allows me to sit in this role and understand what is happening across our profession and withdrawal from those experiences.
During this series, we've heard about the many symptoms of the vet crisis, among them stories of burnout, suicide, mental ill health, and vets leaving the industry. They are a result of a profession under immense pressure, and immense pressure that's existed for many, many years. For more than 18 months, Dr. Steele has been working to figure out the underlying cause. And it comes down to this, that the roles that vets play in our community just don't have enough support. In fact, Kristen Steele says they're under supported, under resourced and under financed,
The fundamental problem in the veterinary profession is that it's a private sector. That produces a lot of benefit across Australia in general, both for the private clients as well as for public value. And so it's 98%, small to medium enterprise. So it's private sector, and it's not supported well enough to meet all of the obligations that we need to meet. And so what we find is that there's a lot of goodwill that's being done out there a lot of work for no pay underpayment For competency, a lot of overwork poor working conditions, because vets have to work fast and hard all the time on a shoestring to try and keep costs down for clients so that they can meet their animal welfare and ethical obligations. As well as there are a lot of benefits that trading a private animal client has for the public. And so there's an issue there to do with having to keep costs low, or free. Sometimes, it's not necessarily always being paid, and certainly not being paid at the rates. That Mary with competency. There's also a lot of work outside of that in terms of on ethics committees for community assistance, you know, rehoming of pets, general education information, for policy for media for all sorts of things that vets to, you know, not necessarily paid for, because it's important, because it it, it makes a difference, it's essential. So when we consider all of that, it comes down to the fact that it's heavily under supported and needs to be broadened out more across the community.
Fundamentally, Kristen says the profession needs investment, and vets need to be paid appropriately for the work they do. And that will need to come from both inside and outside the industry.
I think it's both it's about practice efficiencies, and making sure that people are skilled, not only in clinical practice, but in business. And it's about looking at the profession overall, and working out where we can collaborate across the profession to decrease overheads to work together as neighbouring clinics, etc. And all of that is occurring already. And, and making sure those work together with, you know, with our medical colleagues in health, etc, and to share, you know, sometimes share equipment and share different types of resources in that one health model. Also working I guess, in terms of policy in the government and actually explaining to them what we need, so that they can help us as well in in the in the different areas and identifying what our specific areas of need are, where we're losing money from too much goodwill, and where we need assistance, or where we are needing different levels of support, you know, what, what are the requirements on the veterinary profession? And what do we need to ask for? That's where we're at.
It's easy to say, Well, why should we the taxpayer, or the government, or any other external entity prop up a private industry, but that's the thing, right? This is a private industry, but it's full of people doing a whole lot of public good. The wildlife, they treat for free, the volunteer work during bushfires and floods, the discount, they give pet owners on their vet bills. And so the list goes on. It's something vets have been doing for decades. And it's something Kristin steel says they just can't sustain any longer.
It's looking broad picture at how we increase the investment within into the profession to assist us because working only as a private sector is not necessarily reflective of the value that it brings to Australians. And so it's more looking at what our value brings to everybody. Where are the responsibilities? Where are the liabilities? Where are where is the where are the benefits being seen, and making sure that we're starting to look at it more broadly than just the private client pays for the needle that it gets. It's just much more complex than that as it is in human health much more complex in that. It says it's a very sophisticated industry. And we I think we need to learn a bit from that in terms of the value that that we bring to society and how we help the cogs turn in in a much bigger way than then just in a private sector.
She agrees with many others, that there's a mismatch in how governments view animal health care and human health care, and that there's room for them to step up.
There is certainly a mismatch. And I think we're evolving in the same way that health evolved and had change in societal values back when we looked at Medibank and Medicare etc. And I'm not saying that that's necessarily the model that we need to look at. But certainly we do need to look at what society needs from the veterinary profession and how we can meet those needs. And it's not necessarily going to be able to be funded by the private client. We need to look at broader measures of where these benefits are going and what our responsibilities are, for example, for biosecurity but not only for large animal but also for companion animals and looking more broadly across acknowledging the benefits that we get from say pets in terms of health care and and in terms of physical health and mental health, etc. And actually acknowledging that and putting that on the black side of the budget sheet and not always just seeing pets or animals. necessarily as a cost, because they're certainly bringing much value to our community.
So far in the work she's done, Dr. Steele says the solutions broadly fit into three categories, one, making the environment for vets a safe and healthy one inside the workplace, to highlighting the value of veterinarians, and what they do for the community, and three, protecting the mental health of vets through the Australian veterinary Association's wellness programme thrive. The devil, of course, is always in the detail. And that's still a work in progress, though, Kristen assures me now that the root cause of the problem has been identified. Her focus is now on collecting data, and figuring out what they need across the many areas of concern. And then who they need to ask for what
The touch points for the purpose of what vets do affects absolutely every single Australian. And so it's not a matter of actually just saying that, what would happen if, if we don't correct the issues within the vet profession, well, that will be affected. In fact, all Australia will be affected by food shortage by security, how Australian homes are able to run. And we won't be able to meet our responsibilities of animal welfare, which is very important to Australians, and particularly in our beautiful indigenous wildlife, which we have a responsibility for. So, in fact, it's much broader than just looking only at what would happen if we don't address the issues within the veterinary profession for the veterinary profession itself, which again, is extremely important and ethical. But it's looking more broadly at what the veterinary profession protects for Australia, and realising that, in fact, that it's essential. So there is no option to not address the issues within the veterinary profession, we need to protect both. I feel I need to protect both my people, but also Australia from the potential issues if we don't have vets protecting animal health and welfare.
The work is underway. But as with everything, it takes time, time, some don't have, because hanging over everyone's head is the statistic that one vet dies by suicide every 12 weeks. It's something Dr. Steele knows all too well. And she's working as fast as she can to nail down the solutions and address the issues.
And that's the great pressure, I feel in my role. I can't work fast enough. And it's been taken really seriously by the AVA. And they've made enormous structural changes to make sure that advocacy in this area are addressed as a priority. And so we are absolutely trying to address this problem as quickly as we can. But it's also a problem that doesn't exist only in Australia. This is a problem that exists across the world. So this is not something that we can use necessarily an overseas model to say, well, they do it differently, let's do it like they do. Because it comes down to a bit of a philosophical change or a societal change in structure in that we actually need to start realising that animal health and welfare is a societal responsibility. It's not necessarily only a private responsibility and, and we perhaps we need to start looking at things just a little bit differently so that we are able to make those changes to protect what's really, really integral to the way we live as Australians.
What do you think your dad would make of what you're doing today?
Ah... sorry, I'm usually pretty good. I think he'd be delighted. I think he'd be proud and delighted. And shame he's not here to help me actually. I absolutely know, that I'm making making these types of changes to give the families who have been affected but understanding that they there was nothing they could have done. You know, it's, it's a deep, long term problem.
Kristen Steele's drive to fix the vet crisis from an industry perspective is for her family, and also for the many other vet families who have lost someone to suicide, like the Putland's. But Kate and Gary partland have been working on their own plan in memory of their daughter Sophie, and this one isn't for veterinarians. This is directed at you and me and every other Australian.
Hello, how are you? You This is a little something to say. Thank you for looking after Molly when she was in last time.
Every so often. Kate Putland bakes some cake or in today's case a batch of Chocolate Brownies, and she drops them into a vet clinic.
And I know how tough your staff have it. And so it's all thank you for all the staff. Thank you very much. I appreciate I hope you enjoy,
She does it to say thank you to the staff for looking after her pups Molly and nibbler. She also does it to remember Sophie.
I just know how hard the staff work and how much they appreciate just a little bit of kindness to know that I appreciate them. And if I can do that, to brighten their day, I'll keep on doing it.
Staff at the Adelaide Veterinary Specialist and Referral Centre in Adelaide east come out to say thank you on the day that were there. And some visibly moved, not just at the thoughtful gesture, but also because it's come from Sophie Putland's parents, we see this is a place where Sophie once worked.
She... Yeah, amazing person. Amazing vet, just an absolute brightspark wherever you went.
Specialist surgical nurse Bec Johnston worked with Sophie in the years before she left for Melbourne.
She just wanted every animal to have the best care possible, she would pick every specialist brain so she could take in as much information as she possibly could. Every single time she just wanted to know everything. I had so much respect for her so much.
When Sophie died Bec Johnson did a mental health first aid course. It was her way to help herself and her colleagues raise awareness and provide support when things get tough.
I don't want to go through that again, with anyone and I don't think anyone else should go through it either.
Do you think things are improving?
Slowly, I think Sophie's Legacy is going to do a lot. It's probably one of the first things that has really come out that is really starting to show, you know, the public what the veterinary industry is actually like and what we deal with on a day to day basis. It's not puppies and kittens, like people think it is it's a lot more in depth. It's emotional. It's, it takes so much on your mental but you know, that's why we do what we do. And we just got to support each other and hope that something like this doesn't happen again to anyone else that we work with. I'm hoping it will just change the industry and change the look that people have on us.
When I first met Kate and Gary Putland on that wintry day more than a year ago, I think back to just how raw everything was for them. Sophie had only passed away eight months earlier. And they were deep in their grief. They had so many questions and so few answers. I've been amazed at their strength and their courage, and of Sophie's brothers Tom and Olly as well. Just getting out of bed at times must have been hard, let alone having the energy to start a grassroots movement.
It's been a year since we all first really sat down to talk about about this. And it's been quite a 12 month really so Garry I might ask you first, how has the last 12 months been?
Look, I think we've had we've had some highs and lows, Caroline. But to be honest with you what's been really, I guess, heartening or cathartic about what we've been doing is that we've learned so much about our Sophie. And what we've learned is that she had enormous networks was well known within the vet industry, but also had fantastic friends as well. And that's come to roost for us because the support we've got from our friends, colleagues or professional colleagues. The vet industry has been fantastic. So yes, I guess the thing that we've learned is that you know, she was a great person and I'm so proud to be a father, and we're so proud to be her parents.
Just recently Kate and Garry found some handwritten notes of Sophie's that she wrote, as part of her mental health management. Over two pages, they reveal her thoughts on working as a vet across different places. Some of the pros included working on interesting cases, working with specialists, good pay and phenomenal nurses. But sadly, the cons outweigh those by a mile. Work was my life she wrote working weekends high stress, high burnout, after hours on call more sad statistics than good, a lot more complaints. On the final page, there was a list of ways to help manage her mental health. Have a hobby, book holidays in advance, stay fit and healthy. Learn to Say No, and be nice to clients who are tough. Sophie was clearly conscious of her own mental health and had external help from a psychologist and a psychiatrist before she died. But she also needed help from the profession that she loved, which it seems, wasn't there at the time. And so in her name, there are changes afoot.
Sophie's legacy and its mission to prevent further suicide in the vet industry has grown from an idea to a fully fledged campaign 10s of 1000s of dollars have been raised so far. And there's a team of 12, who now work behind the scenes, and the Putland's are on the cusp of launching their national education campaign.
We've spoken to a number of people within the event industry, and they've been saying to us, this is actually something that's not been tried before. So yes, it is unique from that perspective, it's a bit scary, actually, that we're doing something and treading new ground. But this is something that we want to do, because this is what the vet, vets and vet nurses said to us in the survey, and we want to be true to what they told us. So this is really important to us. We're going to do our best. And we'll see how we go, even though it's the first time that this potentially has been done.
Can we have a sneak peek at all that what to expect from this national education campaign?
I think what we can say is that the language that we're using here, and the strategy behind it been very clever. And it's intended to really ask people to think twice when they go to a vet clinic, not only in terms of the way they interact with staff, but hopefully after for them to say actually they did a great job, we're going to go back and say thank you. And I think that would be a fabulous way of, you know, just letting the vet staff know that they're important.
The National Education Campaign is one part of Sophie's Legacy. But it goes far beyond how pet owners who visit vet clinics should treat staff, there's a much bigger piece of work targeted at all Australians that will follow. Kate and Garry have had to go through one of the worst things any parent could imagine. But it gives them a unique view of what needs to change.
One of the things as a family that kind of sits outside of the industry, we can look at this a little bit differently than, say, the industry or even government. So we think our role is in fact, to actually be the people who can say this is what needs to be done. And to do that honestly and openly. And from our perspective, because we've had this lived experience. So we think that's a very important role we can play
the number of people I know who have listened to the podcast, and are saying to me, I didn't know that there was this problem. And then the vets themselves who were saying, we're so pleased you're doing this.
It's great. The Putland's now had the support of some of the big veterinary clinics on site, as well as the Australian Veterinary Association. Everyday people like you and me. And they've also been meeting with politicians across state and federal governments. In their search for answers for Sophie, they're now the ones asking the questions,
The doors that have opened is just amazing. And you know, these people have been so good in talking to us, we just hope that we can make change.
This is a complex problem. I mean, we don't shy away from the fact that there are lots of things that need to be done. And in fact, again, our survey was talking about workload, not enough fits, you know, incredible hours that need to be put in 15 minute time slots have put a lot of pressure on vets. A lot of these things are structural reforms that need to be done. So we do want to engage with the governments, both state and federal, because we think it's really important for the governments to step up here and to be supporting this industry. So that's one area that we would like to do some further work in as also with the industry too. So how do we how do we as an industry actually make changes that are going to make life easier and make the vet profession one we want lots of young kids to go into.
Of course at the centre of all of this is a daughter who is is no longer here. What do you think Sophie would think of all of this?
I think she would be absolutely. So pleased that we're doing this. What about you Garry?
I think she'd be embarrassed about it actually. Yeah, I think she'd be embarrassed that we were that this is actually for her on her behalf. So I'm sorry...
It's emotional, and it's bittersweet. Garry takes a moment and gathers his thoughts. And then he continues.
Yeah, she cared about her colleagues. And she loved being a vet. So I think she would have been very supportive of what we're doing. Because she was doing that herself. We know that because we heard a number of people say that, you know, she had helped them out. And things like that. So yeah, look, I think she would have been absolutely chuffed we're doing it.
And just finally, that's what she might have thought of what you were doing. How about yourselves? How do you feel about what you've managed to achieve so far?
I actually feel Sophie closer to me doing this. I know that sounds really weird. But I, but I do. I really feel her around me, which I think is wonderful. I can't believe we're doing it. But we're doing it.
I'm going to use a Grace Tame moment here. Grace time was someone who would say if you're silent on this, you're complicit in maintaining the status quo. And so that's why for me, what's really important here is to say, we can't be doing the same thing. Because we know what that results in. So for me, this is about making change, to be a change maker to show some leadership and to reduce the rate of suicide that's really important to me, yeah.
As has been said all along, the issues in the veterinary industry are complex, layered, and many. And so too would be the solutions, that's across the community, the industry, and government.
Some are simple to put in place, like the will of a business owner changing the culture in their practice, are getting that pet owner to think twice before they abuse their vet. Others, though, require the unscrambling of decades of legislation and regulation. But the bravest will take a shift in attitude from us all, especially policymakers.
The reality is we rely on animals for comfort food for export and recreation, and 21st century care costs money. veterinarians are not a luxury, but essential to our survival. And we don't have any option but to change how the industry has operated in the past and find a new way forward. And that's incumbent on all of us. I'm reminded of that as I watched my Groodle Harvey build back his strength after his surgery. Day by day, he's getting stronger, and eventually he'll be running and chasing balls again. And I wouldn't want anything less for him or any animal.
And that all starts with our vets.
Sick As A Dog is written, produced, edited and presented by me Caroline Winter for PodTalk on the lands of the Kaurna people. And additional support from Drew Radford. Thank you to everyone who featured in this series. And in particular Kate and Garry Putland, and a special mention to their daughter, Dr. Sophie Putland. You can support this podcast by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts, share it with others or post about it on social media. Find out more about Sick As A Dog and Sophie's Legacy online at sickasadogpodcast.com.au Thanks for listening.
