Brexit and the pandemic have been blamed for a shortage of vets that is leading to increasing numbers of surgeries having to close their doors.
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons said the profession was already facing major recruitment and retention issues but said this had increased due to the "double whammy" of the UK's withdrawal from the European Union and Covid.
The problem is said to be most acute in rural areas and in food safety roles but cities are also bearing the brunt.
McDonald Vets on Queen Margaret Drive, a busy practice in Glasgow's west end, is currently closed with owners being directed to the company's other surgery in Scotstoun. A spokeswoman for the firm said the temporary closure was due to vet shortages.
The rise in pet ownership during lockdown has also contributed to an increase in the demand for veterinary services, heaping more pressure on the already fragile sector.
READ MORE: Stress of putting animals to sleep increases suicide risk in young vets
An estimated 3.2 million households in the UK have acquired a pet since the start of the pandemic, according to the Pet Food Manufacturers' Association.
Romain Pizzi, Scottish secretary of the British Veterinary Association (BVA) said it was concerned about the impact on mental health, warning that vets were suffering increased levels of "stress and burnout".
The rate of suicide in the veterinary profession has been pegged as close to twice that of the dental profession, more than twice that of the medical profession and four times the rate in the general population.
Currently, around 60% of those joining the Register of Veterinary Surgeons in a given year are from the EU, and an estimated 95% of vets working in the public health and food safety sectors are EU-qualified.
READ MORE: 'Despicable' new 'missing pet' scammers targetting Scots
However, a directive that recognises overseas qualifications ended with the Transition Period on December 31 2020, which, along with the end of freedom of movement, means that EU-qualified vets who are EU citizens no longer have an automatic right to live and work in the UK and join the RCVS Register.
All vets now need to have qualified from a veterinary school accredited or approved by the European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education (EAEVE) to be eligible to register to practise as a vet in the UK, otherwise they must pass the RCVS Statutory Membership Examination.
The RCVS successfully lobbied the Home Office to add veterinary surgeons to the Shortage Occupation List, meaning that qualified veterinary surgeons are prioritised for visas and some of the immigration barriers are lowered for them.
A spokesman said: "Firstly, we believe that overseas-qualified vets are an asset to the UK veterinary community, and we offer training to support their transition to practising in the UK and will continue to explore potential options such as mutual recognition agreements, such as we have in place with the Veterinary Council of Ireland.
READ MORE: Petition calls for stronger dog theft penalties in Scotland following surge in dognapping
"Whilst we want to encourage appropriately qualified overseas vets to work in the UK, we also believe that better incentives should be used to recruit vets already in the UK.
""Ultimately, we need to boost the numbers of UK veterinary graduates so that we are less reliant on overseas-qualified vets, which will require additional funding and support from Government."
Romain Pizzi, Scottish Branch President of the British Veterinary Association (BVA) said the opening of new veterinary schools in Scotland would help ease pressure on the industry but said this needs to be bolstered by increased government funding.
He said: “The veterinary profession was already facing recruitment and retention problems, but these have been significantly increased by the double whammy of Brexit and Covid.
"The workload has increased but the supply of vets from the EU has dried up.
"The impact is felt even more in rural and remote communities and in public health roles such as food safety.
"The veterinary profession has worked incredibly hard throughout the pandemic and we are concerned about the impact of stress and burnout on our colleagues.
“Across the sector we’re doing a lot to try to stop the leaky bucket by improving workplace conditions.
"There are also new vet schools opening in Scotland and across the UK which will help to increase the pipeline of vets coming through, but this must be accompanied by sufficient funding and resources otherwise we’re robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel