Survey: Only 49 pct veterinarians feel their profession is appreciated

KUALA LUMPUR: In light of World Veterinary Day 2024 to celebrate the essential work of veterinarians, findings from a survey of veterinarians worldwide have been released to showcase the perceived levels of appreciation for the veterinary profession.

Yet, only 49 per cent of veterinarians believe that their profession is appreciated, according to Going Beyond 2024 survey by Kynetec on behalf of Boehringer Ingelheim.

According to a statement, the survey aimed to shine a light on the often-unseen care and effort veterinarians provide and to explore if veterinarians feel valued and understood by animal owners.

“Understanding the reasons why veterinarians feel their profession is underappreciated, raising awareness of oftenunseen and complex aspects of veterinary work, and most importantly, showing veterinary professionals that we recognise their essential work, is an important first step.

“As a veterinarian myself, I know that there is so much to love about this job. Together, we can showcase the relentless dedication, the genuine compassion, and the scientific know-how it takes to work as a veterinarian. It truly is a vocation to aspire to,” said Boehringer Ingelheim Member of the Global Animal Health Executive Committee, Fabio Paganini.

The perceived levels of appreciation for the profession were relatively consistent across key types of veterinary teams, with only 48 per cent of pet-focused (cats and dogs), 55 per cent of livestock, and 42 per cent of equine veterinary professionals reporting their profession was appreciated.

This was despite 75 per cent of survey respondents reporting feeling ‘personally appreciated’ by their client base.

Additionally, the respondents believe their personal clients appreciate their ‘level of expertise’ (at 66 per cent), the ‘ability to deal with ethical dilemmas including euthanasia’ (61 per cent), and ‘the fact that they provided a large variety of care’ (57 per cent).

However, the survey also revealed that clients did not always have full awareness of how far veterinarians would push themselves to provide care.

Of the participants, 49 per cent felt that they were underappreciated by clients in terms of understanding the ‘resilience to stress and emotional exhaustion’ required from the job, with 48 per cent reporting an under-appreciation of the fact that they ‘continued to work despite feeling physically exhausted’ and the way they had ‘traded off their work-life-balance to help animals’.

The survey was conducted in March this year involving 1,056 companion animal, livestock and equine veterinarians in the US, Japan, the UK, France, Brazil and Germany.

Furthermore, Boehringer Ingelheim, together with the Word Small Animal Vet Association and the World Association for Buiatrics, plus other leading organisations, are united to help veterinarians, starting with showcasing veterinary professionals’ compassion and dedication to animal welfare, while shedding light on the often-unseen complex and difficult aspects of