Rural Veterinarians
In the early’80s, I photographed rural large animals veterinarians during their professional daily life, in the districts of Saone-et-Loire and Aveyron in France and later in Condroz, Belgium.
Serving as a veterinarian practitioner in rural areas is a great task and a responsible choice. Community solidarity is an important aspect in places where everyone knows everyone. There, life is simpler but it's also harder.
For a rural veterinarian, 24/7 availability is a determinant element as he has to provide continuous care and services to the farmers. Therefore, the relationship between them is getting tighter day by day and during the animal-care visits. Often, they offer their services to farmers in remote villages and farms even 40 km away (mostly in the Aveyron region), as most remote rural areas lack sufficient access to a veterinarian.
The scarcity of rural vets looks nearly identical to the country’s shortage of rural doctors.