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I am a Veterinary Surgical Specialist and I write to express concern about your recent segment, which contains highly irresponsible, poorly researched content. Next time you wish to provide a public platform for someone to moan about paying fees they consented to (fees to provide advanced life support and spinal surgery to their pet), only to ask the staff to ‘have a heart’, I would suggest you researched two topics;
1. The impact it has on vets and veterinary nurses to be told every day they are ‘in it for the money’.
2. The French Bulldog breed.
Veterinarians are not just tired of the emotionally manipulative narrative that they must not care about animals unless they provide this care at a low cost – it is actually killing them. Veterinarians have 4x the suicide rate of the general population, and research tells us this type of ‘story’ contributes. As hardworking individuals, we go in into the profession optimistic and hopeful about saving lives. In fact, we pay thousands of dollars to train to do just that. Veterinary specialists (similar to human specialists) pay even more for training and make sacrifices you can’t imagine. What we didn’t factor in, was the fact we would get daily abuse for doing our job, because we need to charge for this service (so that, you know, staff/rent/equipment loans can be paid…).
Here are some readily accessible resources you can access. The ‘Sick as a Dog’ podcast especially highlights the effect this emotional abuse has on our profession.
The French Bulldog is the cutest breed you could ever meet. I have a special interest in treating them. The reality though – they are bred for the cute squishy faces and not for health. In fact, things have got so bad, some may say they are virtually incompatible with life. Here is some information on these breeds.
I propose a segment on the French Bulldog, and the emotional toll treating this breed takes on the vets trying to save them (often to no avail). You could give the segment a catchy name like ‘I bought a breed I knew may need life-support, I just didn’t want to be the one to pay for that life-support’, and you would already have the footage.
Your irresponsible reporting of the French Bulldog case, hauling a small business over the coals for doing their job, I find especially disappointing from a well-respected high-profile show. I hope you will consider a follow-up segment reporting on the actual facts behind these situations.
Dr Abbie Tipler is a Surgical Specialist at Veterinary Specialist Services, Brisbane. She graduated from Massey University in 2005 and soon after graduation discovered her passion for surgery. This took her to London where she worked for several years in a combined general practice/orthopaedic referral practice. In 2011 she moved to Sydney and sat her ANZCVS Memberships in Small Animal Surgery and in 2016 was chosen as head examiner for Memberships in surgery. She is an active member of the surgical chapter and a regular attendee at surgical conferences world-wide including ACVS, ANZCVS Science Week and BVOA. She is a member of AO VET. Abbie has spent time seeing practice or completing externship at some of the top veterinary universities including UC Davis and Bristol University.
Great open letter, although I am sure ACA will not take up the suggestion of a follow up story – that is not what they are about and they do not care about the consequences of their output (I will not call it journalism or reporting)
I had a media studies teacher in high school that left to become a producer of A Current Affair – we met up with him post high school, the conversation got around to his job and he readily admitted that they were not interested in truth or providing a balanced story – they were only interested in sensationalising stories. Sad but true
What I did find heartening with the French Bulldog story was the vast majority of pro vet comments on the social media pages of those that shared the story but also on the page of A Current Affair – it made for a nice change as so many people called out the owner of the dog (and he needing to sell multiple designer handbags to help pay the bill – the was a kick in the teeth for many readers) – it was even gratifying to see that people recognised this happened on a Public Holiday weekend (Easter I think) hence the public holiday surcharge – so many people said that they understood the surcharge and so many people understood that the dog required Life Saving support care at a specialist centre on a public holiday on a breed (no matter how charming they are) that is a genetic timebomb and the owner did not have pet health insurance for such a problematic breed ………..all very salient and crucial points.
yes the report was totally irresponsible – but I was heartened to see the public response – I’m not sure the story quite got the reaction they were hoping for.
Thanks, Gillian – I agree. I also get the feeling that ACA knew exactly the reaction they would get from the story and knew that particularly under the current cost of living concerns, someone complaining that they had to sell designer handbags to pay for not-unexpected treatment for their designer dog on a public holiday would cause an uproar amongst local ACA viewers against the pet owners. As you said they’re after reactions and I think they knew the pet owners would be the ones in the firing line. Unfortunately, the veterinary community was just a pawn in their game and I doubt that was at all a concern for them.
This popped up on my Facebook memories feed today that I shared from 12 months ago and is quite relevant to this topic:
” The actor, Denzel Washington’s response when asked about Fake News and a report that he was a victim of Fake News.
Washington starts with the classic line: “If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed, if you do read the newspaper, you’re misinformed”
The reporter asks: “So, what do you do?”
Washington: “That’s the great question. What is the long-term effect of too much information?
“One of the effects is the need to be first, not even to be true anymore!
“So what a responsibility you all have. To tell the truth, not just to be first, to tell the truth – we live in a society now where it’s just first, who cares, get it out there, we don’t care who it hurts, we don’t care who we destroy, we don’t care if it’s true, just say it, sell it!
“Anything you practice, you’ll get good at – including BS!” “
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Great open letter, although I am sure ACA will not take up the suggestion of a follow up story – that is not what they are about and they do not care about the consequences of their output (I will not call it journalism or reporting)
I had a media studies teacher in high school that left to become a producer of A Current Affair – we met up with him post high school, the conversation got around to his job and he readily admitted that they were not interested in truth or providing a balanced story – they were only interested in sensationalising stories. Sad but true
What I did find heartening with the French Bulldog story was the vast majority of pro vet comments on the social media pages of those that shared the story but also on the page of A Current Affair – it made for a nice change as so many people called out the owner of the dog (and he needing to sell multiple designer handbags to help pay the bill – the was a kick in the teeth for many readers) – it was even gratifying to see that people recognised this happened on a Public Holiday weekend (Easter I think) hence the public holiday surcharge – so many people said that they understood the surcharge and so many people understood that the dog required Life Saving support care at a specialist centre on a public holiday on a breed (no matter how charming they are) that is a genetic timebomb and the owner did not have pet health insurance for such a problematic breed ………..all very salient and crucial points.
yes the report was totally irresponsible – but I was heartened to see the public response – I’m not sure the story quite got the reaction they were hoping for.
Thanks, Gillian – I agree. I also get the feeling that ACA knew exactly the reaction they would get from the story and knew that particularly under the current cost of living concerns, someone complaining that they had to sell designer handbags to pay for not-unexpected treatment for their designer dog on a public holiday would cause an uproar amongst local ACA viewers against the pet owners. As you said they’re after reactions and I think they knew the pet owners would be the ones in the firing line. Unfortunately, the veterinary community was just a pawn in their game and I doubt that was at all a concern for them.
This popped up on my Facebook memories feed today that I shared from 12 months ago and is quite relevant to this topic:
” The actor, Denzel Washington’s response when asked about Fake News and a report that he was a victim of Fake News.
Washington starts with the classic line: “If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed, if you do read the newspaper, you’re misinformed”
The reporter asks: “So, what do you do?”
Washington: “That’s the great question. What is the long-term effect of too much information?
“One of the effects is the need to be first, not even to be true anymore!
“So what a responsibility you all have. To tell the truth, not just to be first, to tell the truth – we live in a society now where it’s just first, who cares, get it out there, we don’t care who it hurts, we don’t care who we destroy, we don’t care if it’s true, just say it, sell it!
“Anything you practice, you’ll get good at – including BS!” “