For many rural veterinarians, having to be an on-call surgeon, doctor, dentist, and nurse is the reality of practising in a remote area where after-hour emergency centres do not exist.
The national vet shortage is putting added pressure on those left working in the industry where suicide rates are already high, and COVID-19 is adding another burden.
That stress puts vets at risk of suicide at a rate 1.7 to 4 times higher than the general population.
Cristy Secombe, Head of Veterinary and Public Affairs for Australia Veterinary Association (AVA), said vets from regional and rural areas voiced their concerns at the AVA's annual conference last week.
"They're working long hours and they're put under a lot of stress that's really negatively impacting their health and wellbeing," Dr Secombe said.
"In turn they can't service the community and their animals as well as they would be able to if there were more vets out there."
For rural veterinarians, the national shortage is only compounded in the rugged landscapes they work, and means they are required to travel vast distances to treat their four-legged clients.
Two clinics between Port Lincoln and WA border
Port Lincoln on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula has just two veterinarian clinics servicing about 170,500 square kilometres.
"We once had a lady with a dog who had spinal injuries; she travelled from just over the Western Australia border for 11 hours just to see us," Vets on Eyre practice manager Lisa Wiseman said.
Recently, one of the two clinics temporarily closed due to a COVID-19 outbreak, leaving one clinic to service thousands of people with pets.
"It has been challenging in recent times because there is a national vet shortage," Ms Wiseman said.
"We don't need another vet clinic as such, we need more vets that want to work in the country.
"It is pretty sad. There are a lot of people with animals out there in remote and rural areas that don't have immediate access to veterinary care."
Vets on Eyre vets usually make a 1,000km round trip to Ceduna to reach people in more remote corners of the region.
"We do leave ourselves short in Port Lincoln when we do it. We feel that there's a lot of animals up there that need us, so we just do our best to provide that service," Ms Wiseman said.
They have had to scrap the possibility of travelling to farming districts such as Cummins and Wudinna.
"We haven't been able to get there in a while. It's unfortunate for the people who live up that way," she said.
"Lincoln Vets used to do those visits as well, but they haven't been able to for a while."
Extra pressure
The AVA said verbal abuse towards vets had increased, potentially as a flow-on effect of COVID-19.
Meanwhile, clinics have been busier with more Australians buying pets than ever before during the pandemic.
Madeline Wright, veterinarian of four-and-a-half years, and part business owner of Vets on Eyre, said she had always wanted to be a vet because she loved helping both humans and animals.
But university did not prepare her for the mental health struggle that came with being a vet.
"People's pets are like their family, so having that emotional side come in, as well as concerns with money … that's when we get a lot of that abuse."
In one instance, Dr Wright had to call the police to help deal with an aggressive client.
"Vets have one of the highest suicide rates of any profession," she said.
"There are a huge number of reasons for that, it's something that we probably don't get taught enough about at Uni — about those struggles."
Meanwhile, Ms Wiseman said there was "a general perception that vets are paid a lot and that we're in it for the money".
However, treating animals who don't speak your language was more of a "labour of love", she said.
"Our expenses are extremely high and unfortunately that flows on over to the pet-owners," Ms Wiseman said.
Rewarding job
But the Vets on Eyre owners said they loved their jobs, and working in a more remote area.
Ms Wiseman told ABC she just wanted there to be more education on the industry so clients could understand the difficulties practices faced.
"It is a very rewarding industry, obviously we do love animals, we do care immensely for their welfare," she said.
Dr Wright said she had always wanted to be a vet in a regional area and she would not want to be anywhere else other than the Eyre Peninsula.
Meanwhile, Dr Secombe said the AVA was working on "creative solutions" to keep vets in the industry and attract more animal lovers to the line of work.
"We're looking at things [like] fee forgiveness for educational debt, we're also looking at how can we get families to go out [to the regions]," she said.
"We also want to know what kind of infrastructure support there is so veterinary businesses can really thrive in those communities."
