Vets’ secret fury at callous pet house owners revealed: Forced to place down animals as a result of clients ‘weren’t bothered’ – one speaks out after tragic suicide

A vet has blasted ‘irritating’ seemingly well-off pet owners who arrive at vets in flash cars before claiming they can’t afford to treat their designer puppies.

The vet spoke to MailOnline after an inquest into the death of an animal surgeon who took his own life heard he had found it ‘destroying’ when ‘rich’ customers wouldn’t pay to help their animals, preferring to go down the cheaper route of euthanasia.

Dr John Ellis, 35, took his own life amid a myriad of personal and professional difficulties, including considerable stress at work, sleeping in his car on call, and cheating on his long-term partner.

Other vets have told MailOnline of similarly difficult situations to those witnessed by Dr Ellis – while also dealing with a cascade of difficult decisions coming their way day after day, amid concerns of a mental health crisis in the animal care profession.

One vet who worked in Lancashire, who asked not to be identified, said they had seen their fair share of seemingly well-to-do pet owners bring in animals they were not prepared to pay for.

‘You do get people rolling up in Beemers and saying “we’re on PDSA”,’ the vet continued, referring to the animal charity that provides emergency help for pet owners on low incomes, including euthanasia.

‘You look out the window (at the car) and it’s so irritating. You think, “are you actually on benefits and paying for your car?” – it’s very frustrating.’

They added that, in their experience, the most problematic clients were those bringing in expensive designer breeds, compounding the frustration and distress because the owners could clearly afford to pay for treatment.

‘These were pedigrees costing £1,000, £2,000, but they say they can’t pay for the first vaccinations,’ they added. ‘It doesn’t make any sense.’

Dr Ellis’ inquest had heard he had been particularly upset by the contrast between better-off pet owners and those with less money.

The wealthier owners would ask him to put animals down unnecessarily, while poorer clients typically avoided coming in until the last minute because they could not afford to pay for treatment – and had no option but to put their pets to sleep.

He reportedly told his mother: ‘When I’ve got somebody saying they won’t pay to help their animal and they’re sitting there with a brand new car outside, and other people who were really struggling [financially] would do anything to save their animals, but there was nothing they could do because it was already too late.’

The Lancashire vet told MailOnline this was common in the industry, and recalled the upsetting dilemma of a pet owner coming in with a dog needing a Caesarean to deliver her puppies – a treatment they could not afford.

Left with a choice of euthanising the mother, killing the newborns with her, the vet ultimately worked with her manager to put the customer on a payment plan they knew would never be paid off.

They added: ‘If I were a business owner it wouldn’t have been the right decision, but I couldn’t put a plunger into a labouring mother and a litter of six puppies. You couldn’t live with yourself.’

The vet, who has since moved away from vet surgery work, added that the vast majority of clients were ‘not d***heads’, but that it was upsetting when they failed to heed advice.

‘When you get clients that come for advice on obesity, that’s the big one. You tell them to stop feeding them so much.

‘It’s frustrating to tell them that and then they come back and complain nothing has changed – and it turns out they’re feeding them Rich Tea biscuits every day.

‘When you’ve dedicated your life to something… but someone comes in bringing an animal to you and say they’re not bothered (what happens), it’s rare, few and far between, but it’s very unpleasant.’

An animal care assistant working in Scotland said there had been times clients ‘just didn’t give a s*** about their pets’.

They added of Dr Ellis: ‘It’s so sad that yet another vet has lost their life because of the stresses of this industry.’ 

Figures suggest vets are leaving the industry in greater numbers than in previous years – with experts suggesting the ’emotional distress’ of treating poorly animals could be a factor.

The last major study of the veterinary profession in the UK, conducted in 2021 by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, found more than half of vets either suspending their registration or leaving altogether were aged 30 or under.

Of those quitting altogether, almost half had been in the role for less than five years.

Many vets are still working as they decide whether or not to quit. Of those weighing up their options, 49 per cent cited ‘chronic stress’ as a reason for doing so, while 17 per cent cited their mental health.

This is backed up by academic research: farm vets told a 2015 University of Edinburgh study they were leaving in increasing numbers because of mental health issues including depression, stress and burnout.

A vet who moved away from frontline animal care told MailOnline she experienced ‘compassion fatigue’ from looking after animals.

Dr Lauren Davis, a Yorkshire vet, said she knew of others who left after ‘five, 10 years’ to specialise in other animal work because of the highly emotional toll of the job. 

She is still in the industry but no longer in a surgery, stepping back after eight years when she realised the ceaseless early morning phone calls on a stagnant salary of around £40,000 was no longer worth it.

She is now her own boss at VetRelieve, a firm selling orthopaedic mattresses for cats and dogs. 

Dr Davis said: ‘I was the classic example of someone who always wanted to be a vet – photos of me with my arm around some sorry goat at a petting zoo.

‘It was an incredibly fulfilling career but there’s a lot of compassion fatigue and that plays into your overall mental health.

‘When people are coming in every 15 minutes bringing their pride and joy with something they are quite concerned about, you want to bring your best self and your best knowledge to the animal.

‘First thing on a Monday morning that is easy, but on Saturday afternoon, on your 14th ear infection of the week, it’s not possible.’

She added that she would often find herself being woken up at 3am for ’emergencies’ – only to find she had been roused to give advice on flea treatments.

She was also inevitably tasked with telling upset owners that there was nothing that could be done for their companions – with euthanasia the only possibility.

‘It was absolutely exhausting,’ she admits. ‘I was finding the compassion fatigue difficult.

‘You were put under a lot of pressure from owners because they what they want is for care to be fast and cheap and quality, when really, you have to pick two of those.

‘The real issue is they want it now, and the best care, and they don’t want to pay a lot for it.

‘I am extroverted, I like to give everything. But in the end I found I wasn’t able to do so. I was tired. I was very tired. It wasn’t worth the time you put in.’

Dr Claire Plumbly, a clinical psychologist who counts vets amongst her clients and author of Burnout, said it was common for animal surgeons to report difficulties.

She said: ‘Vets are dealing with a lot of distress – distressed humans as well as distressed animals who are in pain and can’t understand what’s happening.

‘Plus, in the case of senior veterinary staff – they will also need to be thinking about the emotional distress and needs of their junior staff too. 

‘They hold a lot but their working day doesn’t appear to factor in the emotional intensity of this and they don’t get any emotional support built in to their work like psychological therapists do.

‘They also tend to work very long hours and carry high caseloads – both risk factors for burnout.’

Dr Davis, of VetRelieve, says she’s now much happier after leaving the frontline to set up her own firm. She remains a registered vet – albeit in a different line of work day to day. 

‘It used to be the case you were a vet, and it was a vocation and you did it (for life). But I know of vets who did it for five, 10 years and then thought about how they can move,’ she says.

‘I do think it (leaving frontline vet practise) was the right thing to do. My kids are three and six and I do the school pick-up and drop-off every day, and I work really hard to get this company off the ground. 

‘I love it personally – I wouldn’t change anything I did but there was some soul-searching to get where I am now.’

VetLife, a charity that provides emotional, financial and mental health support to veterinarians, said: ‘Every death by suicide is a tragedy. Suicide is complex and is not caused by a single factor. 

‘For anyone in the veterinary community needing support, Vetlife Helpline is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year on: 0303 040 2551 or via anonymous email.’