5 minute read
IN THE FIELD
HELPING PET OWNERS HEAL
Vet med students are immersed in animal science, but when a client's pet dies, the work is about human emotions
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{ UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY VETERINARY MEDICINE } V eterinary students are a special group of individuals. As a teacher and a counselor, I find myself continually amazed at their drive, dedication, and desire to serve their communities. As part of my position at the university, I have the opportunity to train a group of veterinary students to field calls from grieving pet owners to the Utah State University Pet Loss Hotline. Our students are quick studies at this difficult work, and put hours into learning how to respond to callers and also how to be more sensitive to client issues around grief, guilt, and the often unexpected pain of pet loss.
The problem of pet-loss-related grief is one that surprises many. We are only now starting to understand the depth of pain that many feel when they lose a beloved pet. Many who lose their pets experience the lows, the crisis of meaning, the confusion, and the guilt that often follows a major loss. Unfortunately, a great number of these individuals struggle to find support in their families and communities. Society has been slow to understand that losing a pet can elicit responses similar those felt after losing a friend or close family member and deserves a similar outpouring of support from loved ones. Many people who lose a pet and struggle often find that those around them “don’t get it.” People often minimize or fail to understand the depth of the grief. In the research literature around loss, this is often termed “disenfranchised grief.” This is a problem because grief that is unsupported and misunderstood can linger and create more pain and difficulty with day-to-day functioning.
The Pet Loss Hotline seeks to help fill this gap. It is a challenging task. Many callers we help on the hotline call us only after other support systems have let them down. Not only do they feel the grief, they often feel embarrassed about grieving in the first place. Our students not only have to learn to help callers work through a loss, but also how to help validate their experiences, and understand that their feelings are normal.
When students begin covering the Pet Loss Hotline phone, they tend to feel nervous. Veterinary medical education provides a great deal of training—how to diagnose, heal, perform surgeries, among other things—but working with human emotions is in a different realm altogether. Training in our Pet Loss Hotline practicum goes over this important territory, and gives students tools to help them understand the grief response and how to work with clients who are grieving. This training is invaluable not just for the hotline, but also for their work as veterinarians.
One of the toughest parts of the job for many veterinarians is to perform euthanasia for pets and animals who are suffering and often approaching death’s door. Clients wrestle with the decision and often experience a great deal of grief, pain, and guilt in the anticipation and aftermath of choosing to euthanize an animal. Knowing how to support clients is crucial and doing this job well can lead to a strong veterinarian-client relationship. If the work goes poorly, however, it can lead to a rupture in the relationship that is almost impossible to mend. The training thus helps students in their careers in a vital way, as they learn how to be with their clients at this difficult time in the best way possible.
For all of their anxiety about fielding calls from grieving pet owners, I’ve found that veterinary students universally tend to do a fantastic job with callers. It speaks to their natural compassion and caring, and also to the fact that few understand the human-animal bond as well as they do. We are proud to host the hotline at USU, and I am proud of the work our students do every day to help people who are struggling with grief. • By: Chris Chapman, Director of Wellness
By Sandra Weingart, USU School of Veterinary Medicine Reference Librarian
More than half of federally employed veterinarians work for various agencies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service monitors compliance with the Animal Welfare Act, works with importers and exporters to ensure the health and safety of live animals and food products that are transported internationally, monitors and surveils animal health conditions and zoonotic disease, and manages emergencies that develop in those fields.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service protects the public from food-borne illness and is the largest employer of veterinarians in the country. Many public health veterinarians enforce meat and poultry inspection regulations in processing plants. Others work as pathologists, biosecurity experts, or epidemiologists, especially in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Within the Department of Health and Human Services, the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine works to protect animal and human health through regulation of animal drugs, animal feed (including pet foods), and veterinary devices. Many people are familiar with their role in regulating the sale and use of animal drugs, including safety and efficacy and ensuring that food products produced from treated animals are safe for human consumption. They also regulate animal feed and feed additives, including pet food, to ensure that it is what the label says it is and was produced in sanitary conditions. A lesser known role is making more drugs legally available for use in minor species and for rare conditions in major species.
In the Department of Defense, the Veterinary Medical Corps (VMC) provides veterinary public health capabilities through veterinary medical and surgical care, food safety and defense, and biomedical research and development. In addition, Veterinary Corps Officers provide military veterinary expertise in response to natural disasters and other emergencies. The U.S. Army Veterinary Corps provides food safety and security inspections for all of the armed forces. They are responsible for providing care to military working dogs, ceremonial horses, working animals
of many Department of Homeland Security organizations, and pets owned by service members. They contribute their skills in the development of lifesaving medical products that protect all service members. Corps members are commissioned officers and you must be no older than 42 years at the beginning of your commission. The VMC also offers scholarships for veterinary education. Recipients are commissioned as inactive reservists during their schooling and typically are required to serve 1 year of active duty for each year of school paid for. The National Association of Federal Veterinarians is a constituent body of the American Veterinary Medical Association and advocates for its members around the world. Be sure to check with agency websites for eligibility requirements and specific job opportunities. •
