Impacts of growing vet shortage in WA

Welcome back. Washington is facing a growing veterinarian shortage and it's not just impacting your average family dog. A shortage of caretakers for large livestock animals has the potential to threaten food security. Fox 13's Taylor Winkle has more on a program working to change the statistics and a special instructor who's helping to make it happen. If you think back to your favorite instructor at school, they were probably wise and caring and walked on two legs. But here at Pima Medical Institute in Renton, some students say the best instructor walks on four and goes by the name Sriracha. His name's Sriracha, but he's not very spicy at all. In the corner of this classroom, as students fill out their assignments, Sriracha is munching on hay. trendy haircut and long lashes aside he brings more to this program than just good looks even anatomically we show them veins on his body where we would draw blood from a jugular his jugular veins most people think that the veterinary field is just dogs and cats but in this program we actually get a lot of hands-on experience with farm animals we get chickens we get rabbits rats Nationwide, a shortage of veterinarian professionals is critical. The American Veterinary Medical Association says we could be short 24,000 pet veterinarians by 2030. As vets retire or leave the field, new ones aren't filling their roles. There is a lot of emotional challenges that go along with this profession. You see it every day, just burnout and compassion fatigue. fatigue on top of the compassion and people skills required to work in a field where you have to navigate how to tell someone that it's time to say goodbye to their fur baby there's a lot of schooling you're over on and for some the student debt to income ratio just isn't worth it the shortage of livestock vets is even worse we're down 90% according to Washington State University so much so that the USDA is getting involved with a rural vet action plan a lot of people don't necessarily think about the fact that it's not the farmer that's doing all of the treatments on their patients anymore. And if animals we rely on for commercial meat, dairy, poultry, and eggs aren't properly cared for, then our food supply isn't either. And while Pima doesn't specialize specifically in large animals, Sriracha is sparking the interest while instructors look to curb the overall shortage in one way or another. Our program here is a little bit unique. We do have a vet assisting program and a vet technician program on the same facility. It's not just snuggling animals, puppies, and kittens. There's science behind it. And they're also giving back. Pima partners with small nonprofits and rescues during their lab and clinical practice, providing vaccines, dental work, and other care to animals who otherwise might go without. Students we talked to say the stress that comes with this industry is worth it. No matter where you work, what profession, you're going to be down. But working with animals is just something completely different. If you or somebody you know is looking to get into the veterinary field, we're gonna have all this information posted on our website, fox13seattle.com. In Renton, Taylor Winkle, Fox 13 News. Come back. Okay, thanks, Taylor.