What started as just an idea after recognizing the need for veterinary social support has grown into a new program at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine.

The new veterinary social work program is a partnership between the University of Regina’s faculty of social work, the University of Saskatchewan WCVM and the U of S department of sociology. With additional support from Saskatoon Health Region’s Mental Health and Addictions Services, Erin Wasson, the first social worker for the U of S WCVM, has helped make this program a reality.

Initially, Wasson’s job was in combination with the Veterinary Social Work Initiative Committee, a partnership between the U of S WCVM and the faculty of social work, which has several goals that include supporting social work practicum placements at the WCVM. Wasson was tasked to build relationships and explore how they could bring the initiative to life.

“When I showed up, it was just a computer and a telephone, and ‘We’ll see what happens,’ and what’s come of that is a program that has got a few specific areas that I work in, including providing support to both small and large animal clinics and to clients who bring their animals in,” Wasson said.

Wasson also provides support to students by redirecting them to campus counselling services, as the main concern of the program is to provide support for students, faculty and staff that are in need.

Those involved with the program also work with the veterinarians at the WCVM. Veterinarians can experience a high rate of burnout, otherwise known as  “empathy fatigue,” in their field. A national survey done by the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association found that in 2012, 19 per cent of veterinarians seriously contemplated suicide, and half of them had experienced empathy fatigue.

The Veterinary Social Work program is another way to help up and coming veterinarians who are studying at the WCVM take care of themselves and provide support when they do experience mental distress.

“People hit a point when professionally they are unable to connect to their work because it’s become distressing or painful. So people disconnect from pain, that’s what we do,” Wasson said.

As well as providing support to the veterinarians at the WCVM, the Veterinary Social Work program also offers support services to U of S students who have pets by helping them navigate the ins and outs of the financial and emotional aspects of having a furry family member. According to Wasson, these support services, however, are not always encouraged as there is a stigma against grieving an animal.

Wasson calls this “disenfranchised grief,” which is when an individual’s grief is invalidated by people around them.

“[Pets] are still sort of viewed as more of a luxury than a family member,” she said.

Because of this, it can be hard for family members and friends to understand why someone is investing their time and money in a pet.

“When people lose an animal, their score of their grief — if we were to score their grief — that score is on the same level as if they had lost a child,” Wasson said.

The U of S WCVM and the faculty of social work at the U of R are working to combat that stigma, and giving bereaved families the support services that they need. According to Wasson, this type of collaboration is not something that is often seen between the two universities.

Wasson encourages students to explore the several opportunities to volunteer and get involved in the community.

“The more people partner together, the greater likelihood we have of creating strong programs that have all of the voices at the table that are needed.”

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Kay-Lynne Collier