A rare species 👀

🇩🇪 You know what the newly discovered rare species in Germany is? The veterinarians! Of the roughly 22,000 veterinary surgeons currently practicing there, only around 3,500 still deal with livestock.

⚠️ Why is that the case, you might wonder? Well, veterinary resources are becoming scarce in rural areas due to the lack of young talents. If this situation remains, it will very soon become impossible to guarantee nationwide veterinary care – which is clearly a problem for animal protection.

     • For the most part, young students are being drawn away because of their desire to be close to an urban setting and the work/life balance that comes with it, because the working conditions are still fairly difficult otherwise, and because the selection processes for veterinary medicine students are insufficient.

👨‍⚕️ What do the vets think? They believe that the focus should be on enabling more flexible deployment of veterinary surgeons and reducing bureaucracy, so that more time can be dedicated to actually treating the animals. Also, technical innovations can ensure appropriate husbandry conditions and improve animal protection.