There is a growing concern that the pressure being put on veterinarians throughout NSW will come to a head and with very little in the way of incentives for them to move to rural areas, there is no light at the end of the tunnel.
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The idea of a HECS forgiveness program similar to that of doctors and nurse practitioners to lure them to work in rural and remote areas would be welcomed by most vets if it increases numbers to share the workload.
Hhowever, many believe it would only form part of the solution needed to fix the problem.
The issue is not localised with many vets across a wide range of areas feeling the strain.
Charlie Carter, Moss Vale, works in a mixed vet practice and said it was hard to recruit vets that wer prepared to switch between large and small animals.
"Last year we needed to recruit a vet in the middle of the year and it took six months to find the right person," he said.
Dr Carter said it was often a case of waiting for the graduates at the end of the year to recruit new staff.
He said the shortage of vets in rural areas was complicated and not one thing would solve the problem.
"Opening places specifically for local students rather than the full fee paying overseas students would help," he said.
"Also, providing an incentive via something like a HECS waiver if the person signed up to work a certain number of years in a rural area is another idea."
He said there needed to be recognition on the part of the government that vets were important particularly in the response and identification of diseases in rural areas.
Another idea to get rural kids studying vet science was setting aside special places where they were recruited to university through an interview to ensure they were less likely to drop out halfway through or early in their working career.
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Justin Daniel, Eden, Pambula and Merimbula vet clinics, said his clinic had suffered vet staff shortages for about five years.
"There haven't been too many times in the last five years where we have been fully staffed," he said.
"The rate of attrition, the average time someone will stay in the industry, is five to seven years.
"It varies depending on the university they attended and what they may have done before uni, but we are losing vets from the profession quicker than we can graduate them."
Dr Daniel said multiple factors contributed to the veterinary shortage, which was most noticeable in rural areas. "Subsidising the HECS debt for graduates taking rural placements once qualified would be a good measure," he said.
"The amount of after-hours you put in in the country is also an issue.
"We rotate our after-hours work in the country between the number of vets available to be on duty at night.
"In our practice there have been times when it has just been me, but it will generally vary from every third or fourth night on night duty in addition to working during the day.
"Experienced vets and practice owners will generally be 'second on-call' for additional nights to support less experienced vets for the more challenging or technical after-hours emergencies.
"In the cities, after-hours emergencies are generally referred to a veterinary emergency centre rather than being managed by vets in the primary practice."
Dr Daniel said recruitment could be hard as "during the five to six years of studying at university, students will often enter into relationships, and their partner may not be able to follow them into the country after graduation".
He said it was also difficult for rural-based veterinary clinics to offer enticing wages compared to their city-based colleagues.
"Economically, it is hard for a country vet clinic to compete in wages; large and production animal work brings in far less than a small animal clinic in the city," he said.
Despite the challenges, Dr Daniel loves being a country veterinarian.
"I've worked for 18 years on the South Coast," he said.
"Prior to that, I spent time as a locum vet in the UK, and before that, three years in rural South Australia, so I've spent all but two years in country areas," he said.
"I love being a country vet and the variety it offers.
"Professionally, I feel far more work satisfaction when I can work both in the clinic and on farms.
"The diversity that a rural mixed animal practice brings and the sense of being a part of a community far outweigh any downsides."
Dr Gundula Rhoades, Inverell, said veterinarian attrition was crippling the industry.
"The workload is a lot and the knowledge required is huge," she said.
"There is pressure to do really good medicine but there is little pay and that only adds to the stress.
"The issue is deeper than HECS fees.
"For what we know the skills are incredible. And how do you create a really good clinic? Last year I spent $80,000 on a new X-ray machine and $20,000 for an endoscope.
"The equipment is extra-ordinary and yet the profit on a vet business with a million dollars in equipment is like five percent.
"Meanwhile new graduates are on $60,000 a year. There's long hours and a lot of responsibility. This leaves a big wage gap."
Dr Rhoades pointed out that the job of mending something like a ligament in an animal might be one-tenth that for the same job in a human and yet the threat of being sued by unhappy owners was just as real as for doctors in hospitals.
Mostly women join the profession but find the demands difficult to juggle with family commitments.
"Men are not likely to enter the profession," Dr Rhoades said. "The younger ones say 'we don't want to burn out; come in at midnight; be on call three nights a week and one in three weekends."
Scott Parry, Silverback Vet Services, Coonamble, said there were many practices in his region doing well in retaining staff but there was a huge gap across Australia.
"You look at places like Parkes and there is no vet and then there are practices in Coonamble and Warren doing well," Dr Parry said.
"If you come up with the answer on how to solve the vet shortage we would all be millionaires."
Dr Parry said it was about selling the dream to young people by offering a great lifestyle and work environment to make living in rural regions an attractive option.
He said subsidising the HECS debt would be a "real nice leg up" to sell that dream.
"It would be a fantastic thing so many other professions get it, the medical fraternity do it," he said.
There are two veterinary practices in Crookwell, and Catherine Culley is the lone vet in her practice, a situation she said was not uncommon in the bush.
"There are probably not enough vets in any area," she said.
Dr Culley is not sure about subsidising the HECS debt, but said "it may help."
The biggest issue she sees is the attrition rate, with perhaps one quarter of the students she graduated with still practising as vets. She said the gap between the expectations while at uni and the reality of working was wide.
"I think there is a very high stress in the city when nobody is game to do anything in case they make a mistake and get sued," she said.
"There's not that level of stress in the country because we don't have referrals. So owners are quite happy to let you have a go with a complicated surgery and hope that it goes well, because the alternative is euthanasia."
Dr Culley did say the after-hours travelling and weekends does weigh heavy on her as a single practitioner.
"It certainly is a big factor as I'm a solo vet and available 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week," she said.
"It is a big load which leaves little time for my family."
