The shortage of GPs in rural Australia is well known but another lesser known crisis is the lack of veterinarians.
Last year the Australian Veterinary Association found 52 per cent of job vacancies were unfilled within six months and more than a third of these took more than a year to fill.
In comparison, in 2018 only 34pc of vacancies were still open after six months.
The waiting times for routine appointments at many clincis have blown out from one or two days to up to three weeks and some practices are no longer able to offer after hours emergency service, such is their vet shortage.
Many livestock producers are also having to call a vet outside their local area.
AVA SA Rural Practitioners branch president Rebel Skirving says the shortage has been occurring for years but in the past 18 months it has got far worse, with the increase in pet ownership during the pandemic putting an even greater workload on vets.
The Mount Gambier-based vet fears it "may get worse before it gets better" with many experienced vets close to retirement and exhausted younger vets changing careers prematurely.
It is a highly competitive course and very difficult to get into but these young professionals graduating are finding themselves with huge debts, working long hours in high stress jobs.
- REBEL SKIRVING, AVA SA Rural Practitioners branch president
She says it is not the lack of graduates that is the problem, with about 650 vets graduating annually across the country, but rather the high attrition rates with some leaving the profession after only a couple of years.
She says there are multiple reasons for vets leaving but unsustainable working hours are a big issue.
Dr Skirving says remuneration is another factor with vets paid far less than other professions with comparative years of study, like human medicine.
"It is a highly competitive course and very difficult to get into but these young professionals graduating are finding themselves with huge debts, working long hours in high stress jobs," she said.
"The only way we can pay our staff more is if we charge our clients more - there is a limit to what they are willing and can afford to spend on their animals.
"We don't want people making heartbreaking decisions whether they bring in their dog or cat for treatment or to be euthanised because of financial reasons."
Dr Skirving says the AVA's vacancy figures mirror what she is seeing.
Gambier Vets, the veterinary clinic that she owns with her husband, is fortunate to have six vets but she says they could take on another two vets and still be busy.
Across the border at Casterton, Vic, the vet clinic - which only a few years ago had three vets - has closed
Dr Skirving acknowledges there is no quick fix but says the federal government needs to ensure it is easy for vets from countries such as the United States and United Kingdom to gain working visas in Australia. Prior to the pandemic these international vets were critical to the workforce.
She also believes a lot more can be done around offering vet practices government funding for some of their work on the front line of disease surveillance.
"A lot of Australians see vets as looking after dogs and cats but what can sometimes be forgotten is that a lot of their work is beef, lamb and dairy - without vets we could see a major disease outbreak potentially putting Australia's food security at risk," she said.
Further north at Port Augusta, veterinarian David Anderson covers a huge area all by himself, with his clients stretching from Port Pirie to nearly Ceduna and north towards Alice Springs, NT.
Dr Anderson has employed vets in the 17 years he has owned the practice but he says it was very difficult to retain them, losing them to metropolitan clinics or rural fringe areas.
"There is no issue getting them here - they realise coming to the country they will get to do all different types of surgeries and work and get up to speed at least twice as quick as working in the city," he said.
"They come out here to the red dust but then they get homesick. They see what their friends are up to in the city and have a fear of missing out and then they get poached by other vets - you can't blame them, they have to do what is best for them."
As a consequence he has been unable to offer an after hours service.
Dr Anderson appreciates the need to ensure high veterinary standards are upheld but says it is time the AVA consider more flexibility.
"If I haven't been on a particular farm for two years, even if they have been a client for years I need to travel 150 kilometres or even further to visit that farm if they want to buy sedative for their rams (for shearing). They can't just come in and buy it or I could be deregistered," he said.
Despite the very long hours he works, Dr Anderson still loves the career he chose.
"No two days are ever the same, you never know what to expect," he said.
BONDED SCHOLARSHIPS MAY SWAY STUDENTS TO RURAL PRACTICE
For nearly a decade vets have been graduating from the University of Adelaide with a survey showing more than half remain in SA.
School of Animal & Veterinary Sciences head Wayne Hein says the uni's graduate output has grown from 35 in the first year to more than 60 vets each year. Within a couple of years this is expected to rise to 70-80.
The Roseworthy Campus dean acknowledges it has always been difficult to find enough vets for rural practice and says bonded scholarships where vet students have their HECS debt reduced or wiped in return for working a certain number of years in a rural area could be an option.
Prof Hein says the quality of the experience students have on their placements really influences where they choose to take their first job.
Those having a good experience in a mixed rural practice are far more likely to head down that path.
He also encourages rural communities struggling to attract veterinarians and other professionals, such as doctors and dentists, to put together packages to entice them to their area.
"You can't make them go into rural practice, it has to be through incentives - that is a combination of financial but also lifestyle and the support they have in the vet practice and in the community," he said.
Prof Hein is hopeful the three year Bachelor of Veterinary Technology course established in 2020 will also help take some of the pressure off vets . The first graduates - 40 if they complete their studies - will join the workforce at the end of the year.
"Under vet supervision they will be able to do many of the roles vets do," he said.