that pandemic concerns shifted the United States' most storied dog show to its June date and suburban outdoor venue, rather than New York City's Madison Square Garden in winter.
Co-sponsored by pet insurer Trupanion, the honor comes with a contribution to MightyVet, which offers mentors, courses and other support on topics including work-life balance, handling tough conversations with clients and looking for signs that colleagues might be in serious distress."We want to make sure that our animals are taken care of, but to do that, we need to make sure that our vets are taken care of,” Westminster spokesperson Gail Miller Bisher said.
But the issue got wider attention after a 2019 study in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medicine Association showed that a higher proportion of deaths due to suicide among U.S. veterinarians than in the general population. Various other occupations have above-average suicide rates, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Veterinary doctors, however, also confront the responsibility of advising pet owners about euthanasia and carrying it out.There are emotionally painful, ethically trying moments when people can't let go of a suffering pet — or, conversely, can't afford treatment that could be life-saving. Even when euthanasia isn't under discussion, there are the challenges of communicating with anguished pet owners and coming to terms with cases that don't go as hoped.
Will you have a story of what dogs are in the show? 🐕🐕🦺❤️❤️❤️