A veterinarian recruitment firm in New Zealand has warned that the labour shortage of vets in the country has reached a crisis point, reports Radio New Zealand.  In June the government announced 50 general practice vets would be allowed to enter the country with a border exception, to help with the labour shortage. But the New Zealand Veterinary Association says only two have arrived, a further 11 are waiting for a spot in managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ). The Association’s chief executive Kevin Bryant said they were hearing from overseas vets that they were reluctant to start the visa process due to the delays they are seeing with the MIQ process.

Julie South of vet recruitment agency Vetstaff said some clinics are having to close ‘hopefully temporarily’, because they are unable find enough vets to staff them. South said she knew of 10 clinics that had to close down, and that led her starting a petition calling on the government to allocate two spots in MIQ each week for vets. South added New Zealand needed migrant vets as it did not produce enough through the education system here. Massey University head of school of veterinary science professor Jon Huxley said the university could only accept 100 students a year as they were limited by the Tertiary Education Commission.