Veterinary officers with a heavy heart: Trying to scrape by through all kinds of jobs

The hardships of veterinary work

We had the opportunity to follow Nguyen Luc (64 years old), a veterinarian in Suoi Tien commune, Dien Khanh district, to a hamlet in Lo Gia village to vaccinate dogs and cats against rabies. Luc said, “Vaccination work is not always a smooth sail. In some places, people do not cooperate, so I have to go to their homes to encourage them.

“Not to mention, the livestock raising practice in the area is fragmented, small-scale, and people have the habit of letting their livestock roam free, so vaccination becomes even more difficult. Sometimes I have to travel for 2 - 3 days to vaccinate a household's herd of cows because they let the cows out to graze early in the morning and then herd them back late in the afternoon”.

According to Luc, the entire Suoi Tien commune currently has over 700 cattle, 320 dogs and over 20,000 poultry. To ensure effective vaccination, every year, when the vaccination period is approaching, he encourages and guides people to properly vaccinate their livestock and poultry against diseases.

“This job pays no regard to rain or sunshine, day or night, near or far. When people report sick pets, the local veterinary staff must go there to check and find the cause to proactively prevent disease. The local veterinary officer is commonly thrown into a harmful environment because they are often exposed to waste, rotting dead animals, hence a high risk of disease infection specifically avian influenza,” said Luc.

The monthly salary of a grassroots-level veterinary officer at the intermediate level used to be just VND 1.3 million, and from July 1, 2024 it increased to VND 2.7 million after paying social insurance and health insurance.

Luc believes that to stick with this profession, grassroots-level veterinary officers must love it. Unfortunately, many young people nowadays study veterinary medicine, but none of them return to work as grassroots-level veterinary officers. This explains why even though Luc is of retirement age and has submitted a resignation letter, the commune still "retains" Luc to stay and work for the locality.

Scraping by with all kinds of jobs possible

According to Nguyen Thi Hieu, Head of the Dien Khanh District Livestock Production and Animal Health Station, the district has 18 communes and towns. Previously, commune-level veterinary officers belonged to the station, but since 2018, they have been transferred to the commune People's Committee for management. All communes and towns in the area are now full of commune-level veterinary officers.

This is the core force, considered the "extended arm" of the livestock production and animal health sector. Its important role includes advising on disease prevention and control for livestock, controlling slaughter, and inspecting veterinary hygiene. Not only ensuring food safety in the area under their management, grassroots veterinary officers also participate in developing programs, plans, and projects for livestock development and restructuring.

Despite the difficult nature of this profession, the salary of grassroots-level veterinary officers is not calculated based on qualifications but only based on the allowance level of the position of non-professional workers at the commune level according to Resolution 24/2023 of the provincial People's Council dated December 7, 2023.

The lack of income forces many veterinary officers at the grassroots level in Dien Khanh district to make full use of their days off and work overtime as loaders, construction workers, concrete ring casters, noodle deliverymen, phone bill collectors, and many more to make ends meet.

Tran Bao Quoc, a veterinary officer at Dien Hoa commune with 13 years of experience in the veterinary field, can serve as an example. He has experienced his fair share of hardship during the job. When he first started working as a veterinary officer, he received less than VND 1 million/month.

To earn more income to support his family, he did any job he was asked to do, such as waiting tables at weddings, loading and unloading steel, and even working as a construction worker. In 2016, thanks to his social connections, he became involved in the concrete casting profession until now. Now his family's life is more stable, and his veterinary work at the grassroots level also puts less pressure on his income.

According to Nguyen Thi Hieu, the entire district has four grassroots-level veterinary officers who are old enough to retire, but the commune cannot find a replacement, so it has to encourage them to stay and help out. One commune found a replacement veterinary officer, but after two months he quit because the work was too hard while the income was not guaranteed. If the allowance rate is as it is now, it will be difficult to recruit commune-level veterinary officers in a few years.