Something painful is happening to our profession.
Veterinarians are becoming afraid.
Not afraid of difficult surgeries. Not afraid of complicated cases.
We are becoming afraid of people.
Almost every week, another veterinarian or veterinary clinic becomes the subject of outrage on social media. A grieving owner posts. A screenshot spreads. A story catches fire.
And before the veterinarian can even explain what happened, the verdict has already been handed down by thousands of strangers.
Incompetent. Greedy. Heartless. Animal killer.
Imagine spending years studying how to heal animals, only to wake up one morning and see strangers calling you someone who hurts them.
That does something to a person.
So now, before accepting a difficult case, some veterinarians hesitate. Before performing a risky procedure, we think not only about the medicine, but about what might happen online if something goes wrong.
Before saying something completely reasonable to a client, we wonder:
“What if this conversation is being recorded?”
And somewhere along the way, veterinary medicine becomes less about practicing with confidence and more about practicing in fear.
That should concern everyone who loves animals.
Because behind the white coat is still a human being.
A veterinarian who has gone home wondering whether there was something else that could have been done.
A veterinarian who remembers the patients they could not save.
A veterinarian who has cried quietly after telling a family that their beloved pet is gone, then wiped their face because another patient was already waiting outside.
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We are not asking to be above criticism. Pet owners deserve answers. Animal welfare and animal-rights advocates have every right to speak when they believe an animal has been wronged. Their compassion comes from a place we understand deeply.
Because we care about animals too.
That is why we chose this life.
But accountability and public humiliation are not the same thing.
There are proper ways to investigate mistakes. There are records, evidence, professional standards, regulatory bodies, and due process.
A viral post should never become a courtroom where shares are evidence, comments are testimony, and anger becomes the verdict.
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And to my fellow veterinarians, especially the younger ones watching all of this and wondering whether they chose the wrong profession:
Please do not lose heart.
You will never become the perfect veterinarian that social media sometimes demands. None of us will.
You will have difficult cases. You will encounter angry clients. You will make decisions that people who were never inside your consultation room may never fully understand.
But there will also be animals that go home because you were there.
There will be families who get a few more months or years with a beloved companion because of something you did.
There will be patients whose names you eventually forget, but whose families will remember your kindness for the rest of their lives.
Do not let the loudest voices make you forget the quiet good you have done.
And when one veterinarian becomes tired, the rest of us must come closer.
When a colleague begins doubting themselves, remind them why they started.
When someone is unfairly attacked, do not leave them standing alone simply because you are afraid you might be attacked next.
And when one of us genuinely falls short, help them become better.
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Because perhaps this is what our profession needs most right now.
Not louder veterinarians.
Kinder veterinarians toward one another.
We spend our lives carrying frightened animals, grieving owners, impossible decisions, and the enormous responsibility that comes with being entrusted with a life.
We should not have to carry each other as another burden.
We should carry each other through.
So keep going, Doc.
Tomorrow, put on that white coat again.
Open your clinic.
See your next patient.
Do your best.
And when the weight becomes too much, look around.
There are thousands of us wearing the same coat, carrying the same fears, and still choosing to show up.
You are not alone.
And as long as we keep standing for one another, you never will be.
Dr. Geoff Carullo is a Fellow and the current President of the Philippine College of Canine Practitioners.
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